LONGMANS' ENGLISH CLASSICS 

EDITED BY 

GEORGE RICE CARPENTER, A.B. 

PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC AND ENGLISH COMPOSITION IN COLUMBIA XTNIVEB8ITT 



LORD MACAULAY 



LIFE OF JOHNSON AND ESSAY ON ADDISON 



LONGMANS' ENGLISH CLASSICS 

Edited by George Rice Carpenter, A.B., 

Professor of Rhetoric and English Composition in Columbia University. 



With Notes, Introductions, Bibliographies, Portraits, and other Explanatory 
and Illustrative Matter. Crown Svo. 



Burke's Speech on Conciliation with 
America. Edited by Albert S. Cook, Ph.D., 
L.H.D., Professor of the English Language 
and Literature in Yale University. 

Carlyle's Essay on Burns. Edited by 
Wilson Farrand, A.M., Associate Principal of 
the Newark Academy, Newark, N. J. 

CoLERiuGE's The Rime of the Ancient 
Mariner. Edited by Herbert Bates, A.B., 
late of the University of Nebraska, Instructor 
in English in the Manual Training High 
School. Brooklyn. 

Cooper's The Last of the Mohicans. 
Edited by Charles F. Richardson, Ph. D., 
Winkley Professor of the English Language 
and Literature in Dartmouth College. 

Defoe's History of the Plague in Lon- 
don. Edited by Professor G. R. Carpenter, 
of Columbia University. 

DE Quincey's Flight of a Tartar Tribe 
(Revolt of the Tartars). Edited by 
Charles Sears Baldwin, Ph.D., Assistant Pro- 
fessor of Rhetoric in Yale University. 

Dryden's Palamon and Arcite. Edited 
by William T. Brewster, A.M., Tutor in 
Rhetoric in Columbia University. 

George Eliot's Silas Marnkr. Edited by 
Robert Herrick. A.B., Assistant Professor of 
Rhetoric in the University of Chicago. 

Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield, 
Edited by Mary A. Jordan, A.M., Professor of 
Rhetoric and Old English in Smith College. 

Irving's Oliver Goldsmith. Edited by 
Lewis B. Semple, Ph.D., Teacher of English in 
the Conirhercial High School, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Irving's Tales of a Traveller. With an 
Introduction by Brander Matthews, Professor 
of Literature in Columbia University, and 
Explanatory Notes by the general editor of the 
series. 

MACAULAY'S LIFE OP SAMUEL JOHNSON. 
Edited by H. G. Buehler, and ESSAY ON 
Addison, Edited by I. G. Croswell. In one 
volume. 

MACAULAY'S Essays on Milton and Addi- 
son. Edited, with Notes and Introduction, 
by James Greenleaf Croswell. A.B., Head Mas- 
ter of the Brearley School. New York. 

MACAULAY'S Essay on Milton. Edited by 
James Greenleaf Croswell. A.B., Head Master 
of the Brearley School, New York. 

MACAULAY'S Life of Samuel Johnson 
Edited by the Rev. Huber Gray Buehler, of the 
Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Conn. 

MiLTONs L' Allegro, il Penseroso. 
COMUS, and Lycidas. Edited by William 
P. Trent. A.M., Professor of English in the 
University of the South. 



Milton's Paradise Lost. Books I. and II 
Edited by Edward Everett Hale, Jr., Ph.D., Pro- 
fessor of Rhetoric and Logic in Union College. 

Pope's Homer's Iliad. Books I., vi . x.XIl 
and XXIV. Edited by William H. Maxwell.' 
A.M.. City Superintendent of Schools, New 
York, and Percival Chubb, of the Ethical Cult- 
ure Schools, New York. 

SCOTT'S Woodstock. Edited by Bliss Perry. 
A.M.. Professor of Oratory and /Esthetic Criti- 
cism in Princeton University. 

Scott's I V ANHOE. Edited by Bliss Perry, A.M. 
Professor of Oratory and /Esthetic Criticism in 
Princeton University. 

Scott's The Lady of the Lake. Edited 

■with Notes and an Introduction by George Rice 
Carpenter, Professor of Rhetoric and English 
Composition in Columbia University 

Scott's Marmion. Edited by Robert Morss 
Lovett. A.B., Assistant Professor of English in 
the University of Chicago. 

Shakspere's Julius C/esar. Edited, with 
Introduction and Notes, by George C. D. Odell 
Ph.D., Tutor in Rhetoric and English Coniposi." 
tion in Columbia University. 

Shakspere's Macbeth. Edited by John 
Matthews Manly, Ph.D., Professor of English 
in the University of Chicago. 

Shakspere's Merchant of Venice. Ed- 
ited by Francis B. Guminere, Ph.D., Professor 
of English in Haverford College. 

Shakspere's As You Like It. with an In- 
troduction by Barrett Wendell. A.B.. Assistant 
Professor of English in Harvard University and 
Notes by William Lyon Phelps, Ph. D., Assist- 
ant Professor of English in Yale University. 

Shakspere's a Midsummer nights 
Dream. Edited by George Pierce Baker 
A.B.. Assistant Professor of English in Harvard 
University. 

The Sir Roger de Coverley Papers, from 
"The Spectator." Edited by D. O. S. Lowell. A 
M., of the Roxbury Latin School, Roxbury.Mass. 

SouTHEY's Life of Nelson. Edited by Ed- 
win L. Miller, A.M.. of the Englewood High 
School, Illinois. 

Tennyson's Gareth and Lynette, Lance- 
lot and Elaine and The Passing of 
Arthur. Edited, with Notes and an Intro- 
duction, by Sophie Chantal Hart, M.A., Asso. 
ciate Professor of Rhetoric in Wellesley College. 

Tennyson's the Princess. Edited by 
George Edward Woodberry, A.B., Professor of 
Literature in Columbia University. 

Webster's First Bunker HiLLORATioN.to- 
gether with other Addresses relating to the Rev- 
olution. Edited by Fred Newton Scott. Ph.D., 
Professor of Rhetoric in the University of 
Michigan. 




THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY 
(After a photograph by Claudet) 



Congmans' (gnglisli Classics 

MACAULAY'S 
LIFE OF JOHN^SON 

AND 

ESSAY ON ADDISON 

EDITED 

WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTIONS 



BY 

HUBER GEAY BUEHLER, A.M. 

ENGLISH MASTER AT THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL 

AND 

JAMES GREENLEAF CROSWELL, A.B. 

HEAD-MASTER OF THE BREARLEY SCHOOL ; FORMERLY ASSISTANT 
PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY 




NEW YORK 
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

LONDON AND BOMBAY 
1903 






THE L:t;l-!ARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Twn Copies Received 

m 26 1903 

^ Copyright tntry 

CLaSS «^ XXc. No. 
6" (7 g- ^ I 
COPY B. 



Copyright, 1903, 

BT 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 



Press of J. J. Little & Co. 

New York, U. S. A. 



/^zt^ 



/^7 



MAOAULAT'S 

LIFE OF SAMtlEL JOHNSON 



EDITED 

WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION 



BY 

HUBER GRAY BUEHLER, A.M. 

ENGLISH MASTER AT THE HOTCHKISS SCHOOL 



COPTRIOHT, 1896 
BT 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
JU rights reiet'ved 



First Edition, July, 1896 

Reprinted, January and August, 189T 

Revised, January, 1903 



CONTENTS 



Introduction: 

I. Macaulay's Life and Works 
II. Macaulay's Style and Genius 
III. Macaulay on Johnson . 
Suggestions for Teachers and Students 
Examination Questions . 
Chronological Table — Macaulay 
Chronological Table — Johnson . 
Life of Samuel Johnson 
Explanatory Notes 
Critical Note .... 



PAGE 

ix 

xxiv 

xxxiii 

xxxvi 

xliv 

xlvi 

li 

1 

45 

65 



INTRODUCTION 

I. Mac AULA y's Life and Woeks.* 

Thomas Babington Macaulay, the most popular 
English essayist of the nineteenth century, and also a dis- 
tinguished orator, statesman, and historian, was born in 
Leicestershire, England, October 25, 1800; the years of 
his life therefore coincide with those of the century. He 
was descended on his father's side from Scotch Presbyte- 
rians; on his mother's side, from a Quaker family; and to 
his earnest and accomplished parents he owed many admir- 
able traits of character. His father, a silent, austere, 
pious man, was a leader in the Society for the Abolition 
of Slavery; edited the newspajjer of the Abolitionist So- 
ciety; and numbered among his intimate friends, who 
often met round liis table and discussed in the presence of 
his children the right and wrong of great political ques- 

' The Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay, by his nephew, G. 
Otto Trevelyan, is one of the best biographies ever written ; and all 
who can should make their acquaintance with Macaulay's career 
from the pages of that fascinating work. Unlike some standard 
books, it is interesting and inspiring to young readers as well as to 
old, and it should be put within reach of all students of Macaulay's 
writings. The best short life of Macaulay is that by J. Cotter Morrison 
in the English Men of Letters Series. Mr. Morrison's book, which 
costs little, contains only six chapters, of which three are biographical 
and three critical ; the biographical chapters can be read by them- 
selves in two or three hours. Those who cannot read the charming 
Life and Letters should by all means read Mr. Morrison's little book. 
The sketch of Macaulay's life here given is only for those who can- 
not do even that. 



X INTRODUCTION 

tions, the distinguished philanthropist William Wilber- 
force, who did more than any other man to secure the aboli- 
tion of the slave trade. 

Macaulay's mother, to whom he perhaps owed more 
than to his father, was, according to Mr. Morrison, "a 
woman of warm-hearted and affectionate temper, yet clear- 
headed and firm withal, and with a good eye for the influ- 
ences which go to the formation of character." When, 
for instance, her son, who liked to read at home better 
than to study at school, declared the weather to be too bad 
to "go to school to-day," his mother would say: "No, 
Tom; if it rains cats and dogs you shall go." When he 
brought to her — as, he often did — childish compositions in 
prose and verse that were, as Miss Hannah More said, 
" quite extraordinary for such a baby," she refrained from 
exjiressions of surprise which might have made him vain, 
and appeared to take as a matter of course his remarkable 
performances, which secretly astonished and delighted her. 
Yet, when he fell ill, she nursed him with a loving tender- 
ness that he remembered all his life. Nothing indicates 
Mrs. Macaulay's influence over her son better than a letter 
which she wrote to him when he was a boy at school: — 

Clapham, May 28, 1813. 

My dear Tom : I am very happy to hear that you have 
so far advanced in your different prize exercises, and with 
such little fatigue. I know you write with great ease to 
yourself, and would rather write ten poems than prune 
one; but remember that excellence is not attained at first. 
All your pieces are much mended after a little reflection, 
and therefore take some solitary walks, and think over 
each separate thing. Spare no time or trouble to render 
each piece as perfect as you can, and then leave the event 
without one anxious thought. I have always admired a 
saying of one of the old heathen philosophers. When a 
friend was condoling with him that he so well deserved of 
the gods, and yet that they did not shower their favors on 



INTRODUCTION xi 

him, as on some others less worthy, he answered, " I will, 
however, continue to deserve well of them." So do you, 
my dearest. Do your best, because it is the will of God you 
should improve every faculty to the utmost now, and 
strengthen the powers of your mind by exercise, and then 
in future you will be better enabled to glorify God with all 
your powers and talents, be they of a more humble or 
higher order, and you shall not fail to be received into 
everlasting habitations, with the applauding voice of your 
Saviour, "Well done, good and faithful servant." You 
see how ambitious your mother is. She must have the 
wisdom of her son acknowledged before angels and an 
assembled world. My wishes can soar no higher, and they 
can be content with nothing less for any of my children. 
The first time I saw your face, I repeated those beautiful 
lines of Watts's cradle hymn : 

Mayst thou live to know and fear Him, 

Trust and love Him all thy days, 
Then, go and dwell forever near Him, 

See His face, and sing His praise; 

and this is the substance of all my prayers for you. In less 
than a month you and I shall, I trust, be rambling over 
the Common, which now looks quite beautiful. 

I am ever, my dear Tom, your affectionate mother, 

Selina Macaulay. 

Under the care of these plain-living, high-thinking 
parents, Macaulay passed a happy childhood. From the 
time that he was three years old, he gave proof of a remark- 
able literary faculty. He read incessantly, for the most 
part lying on the rug before the fire, with his book on the 
floor, and a piece of bread and butter in his hand. He did 
not care for toys, but was very fond of taking his walk, 
when he would hold forth to his companion, whether nurse 
or mother, telling interminable stories out of his head, or 
repeating what he had been reading. Before he was eight 
years old he wrote for his own amusement a " Compendium 
of Universal History," which filled about a quire of paper 



xii INTRODUCTION 

and gave a tolerably connected view of leading events from 
the Creation to 1800. Among his many other literary 
ventures at this time was a poem in the style of Sir "Walter 
Scott, which was suggested by his delight in reading the 
"Lay of the Last Minstrel" and "Marmion." This 
stanza is a specimen of the style of the eight-year-old 
2:)oet : — 

"Day set on Cambria's hills supreme, 
And, Menai, on thy silver stream. 
The star of day had reached tlie west. 
Now in tlie main it sunk to rest. 
Shone great Eleindyn's castle tall: 
Shone every battery, every hall : 
Shone all fair Mona's verdant plain; 
But chiefly shone the foaming main." 

These productions of Macaulay's childhood — histories, 
epic poems, hymns — though correct in spelling, grammar, 
and punctuation, were dashed off at headlong speed. 

At the age of twelve the precocious boy was sent to an 
excellent small school at Shelford, near Cambridge, where 
he was painfully homesick, but where, in an atmosphere 
pervaded with the influence of the neighboring univer- 
sity, he laid the foundations of his scholarship. No school- 
boy should omit to read Macaulay's letters home during 
this period; for nowhere else are some of the character- 
istics of this remarkable man so clearly seen as in the letters 
and exercises of his school and college days. In athletic 
games he was not expert; his life was absorbed in books, 
though not always in schoolbooks. His favorite reading 
throughout life was poetry and prose fiction, and at school 
he often indulged this excessive fondness for pleasant read- 
ing to the neglect of more bracing studies. He especially 
disliked mathematics and the exact sciences, writing to his 
mother: "Oh for words to express my abomination of 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

that science [mathematics]. . . . Discipline of the 
mind! Say rather starvation, confinement, torture, anni- 
hilation! " Macaulay lived to change his mind and deeply 
regret this mistake of his school-days. Many years after- 
ward he wrote: " I often regret, and even acutely, my want 
of a senior wrangler's ^ knowledge of physics and mathe- 
matics; and I regret still more some habits of mind which 
a senior wrangler is pretty certain to possess." In fact, 
the grave consequences of young Macaulay's one-sided 
inclination for literature can be traced throughout his 
career. Poetry, history, and fiction, read fast and chiefly 
for pleasure's sake, were very poor discipline for a mind in 
which fancy and imagination were already strong; and 
some faculties of Macaulay's mind, for want of proper 
exercise, remained always weak. Critics point out, even 
in his best writings, a "want of philosophic grasp," a 
"dislike of arduous speculation," a "superficial treat- 
ment of intellectual problems." 

From the little school at Shelford, Macaulay went, in 
1818, to Trinity College, Cambridge, He failed to secure 
the highest university honors because of his repugnance 
to mathematics; but he showed his classical and literary 
attainments by taking the prize for Latin declamation, 
by twice gaining the chancellor's medal for English verse, 
and by winning a scholarship. In the Union Debating 
Society he soon distinguished himself as one of the best 
debaters in the university, and in Cambridge social circles 
he became known as one of the most brilliant conversers 
in England. Day or night he was always ready to talk, 
and such talk! " Never were such torrents of good talk 
as burst and sputtered over from Macaulay and Hallam. " 
"The greatest marvel about him is the quantity of trash 
he remembers." "Macaulay's flow of talk never ceased 

- ' " Senior Wrangler " is the name given to the student who ranks 
first iu the honor list at Cambridge University. 



xiv INTR OD UCTION 

once during the four hours." These are extracts from the 
journals of some who heard him. 

But it was not only " trash " that Macaulay remembered, 
for he seems to have remembered nearly everything he 
read, often getting by heart long passages that pleased him 
merely from his delight in reading them over. When a 
child he once accompanied his father on an afternoon call, 
and found on the table a copy of Scott's " Lay of the Last 
Minstrel," which he had not seen before. He kept himself 
quiet with his prize while the elders were talking, and 
when he returned home, sitting down on his mother's 
bed, he repeated to her canto after canto. When he was 
fifty-seven years old he learned by heart in two hours the 
fourth act of the "Merchant of Venice," except a hun- 
dred and fifty lines, which he already knew. He once said 
that if all copies of "Paradise Lost" and ""The Pil- 
grim's Progress" shoul'd be destroyed, he could reproduce 
them from memory. This extraordinary memory remained 
with Macaulay to the last, and is the wonder and despair 
of his readers. It is the more remarkable because he read 
very rapidly. " He read books faster than other people 
skimmed them, and skimmed them as fast as any one else 
could turn the leaves. ' ' And he read omnivorously. Except 
when he was talking, writing, or engaged in public busi- 
ness, he hardly passed a waking hour without a book before 
him. Speaking of a journey from England to Ireland, 
he says, "As I could not read, I used an excellent substi- 
tute for reading. I went through ' Paradise Lost,' in my 
head." Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, English 
— it was all one. The following is a list of the books he 
went through in the original language while on a voyage 
to India at the age of thirty-four: Homer's "Iliad " and 
" Odyssey;" Virgil's "iEneid," " Eclogues," and " Geor- 
gics;" Horace's poems; Caesar's " Commentaries;" Bacon's 
" De Augmentis;" the works of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, 



INTRODUCTION XV 

and Tasso; "Don Quixote;" Gibbon's "Rome;" Mill's 
" India;" all the seventy volumes of Voltaire; Sismondi's 
" History of France;" and seven large volumes of the 
" Biographia Britannica. " 

Macaulay's wonderful memory was a most nseful endow- 
ment; but liis habit of incessant and omnivorous reading 
was something of a defect. Emerson remarks that the 
means by which the soul attains its highest development are 
l)ooks, travel, society, solitude; the first three Macaulay 
used, but solitude he neglected. He never gave himself 
time to tliinh hard and deeply. Remarkable as his writings 
are, they would have been still more valuable, perhaps, if 
he had read less and reflected more. His brilliant works 
sometimes lack meditation and thoughtfulness. 

After his graduation from Trinity (1832) Macaulay 
remained at Cambridge, pursuing post-graduate studies 
for the degree of Master of Arts, and in 1824, after an 
examination in which he stood first among the candidates, 
he was elected a Fellow of Trinity College, that is, one of 
the sixty masters of the college, with an income of 11,500 
a year for seven years. In 182G he was, as the English 
say, called to the Bar; but he did not take kindly to 
the law, got little or no practice, and soon laid aside his 
law books to devote himself exclusively to literature and 
politics. 

In literature he had become distinguished even before 
he left Cambridge, partly by his college essays and poems, 
but more by his contributions, when a Bachelor of Arts, 
to Knighfs Quarfcrh/ Magazine. Of these contributions, 
two battle poems, " Ivry " and "Naseby," are still read 
with pleasure. "Fragments of a Roman Tale" and 
" Scenes from the Athenian Revels " — attempts to picture 
the private life of bygone days — suggest that Macaulay 
might have written admirable historical novels. The 
" Conversation between Mr, Abraham Cowley and Mr. 



xvi li\TRODUCTION 

John Milton/' which was his own favorite among his early 
writings, is, in tlie minds of many, snperior in style and 
diction to anything that he wrote in later life. Bnt Ma- 
caulay's real literary fame began in 1825, when he wrote his 
first essay for the Edinhurgli Review. This famous Review 
was at that time the leading periodical in Great Britain, 
and exerted a literary and political influence never equalled 
before or since. To be admitted to its pages was the 
highest compliment that could be paid a young writer, and 
Macaulay Avas invited to write for it. His first contribu- 
tion was the celebrated " Essay on Milton. "^ As criti- 
cism, this Essay has little value, for Macaulay was never 
a subtle or profound critic, capable of analyzing and ex- 
hibiting the beauties of literary masterpieces; but as a 
piece of writing it is extraordinary, and it at once arrested 
the attention of the public. Jeffrey, the editor of the 
Edinburgh Revieiv, wrote: " The more I think, the less I 
can conceive where you picked up that style." Murray, 
the publisher, declared that it would be worth the copy- 
right of Byron's " Childe Harold " to have the writer on 
the staff of the Quarterly Revieiv, the Tory rival of the 
Edinburgh. The Macaulay breakfast table was covered 
with cards from the most distinguished personages in Lon- 
don society, inviting the brilliant young essayist to dinner. 
He Avas courted and admired by the most distinguished 
persons of the day, and from that time on was one of the 
"lions" of London society; for London soon discovered 
what Cambridge knew before, that he was one of the most 
entertaining conversers in the world. 

The " Essay on Milton" was but the beginning of a 
long series of more than forty articles — critical, historical, 
and controversial — which were contributed during the next 
twenty years to the Edinburgh Review, and made their 
author the best known essayist of the nineteenth century. 

' Sec Mr. Croswell's edition of the Essay on Milton in this series. 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

The last Review article was the " Essay on the Earl of 
Chatham," published in 1844. 

But these famous essays, so far from being Macaulay's 
main occupation, were, in fact, struck off in hastily 
snatched moments of leisure — some of them before 
breakfast — by a man whose time was chiefly occupied with 
the business of Parliament or various departments of the 
Government; for Macaulay was early drawn into public 
life, and in politics won immense distinction when he was 
still a young man. Mr. Gladstone declares that "except 
the second Pitt and Lord Byron, no Englishman had ever 
won, at so early an age, such wide and honorable renown." 
ff After two years' service as a Commissioner of Bankruptcy, 
he -became, in 1830, a member of Parliament, through the 
friendliness of a nobleman who controlled the membership 
for Calne. This was just at the beginning of the great 
struggle to reform the representation in the House of 
Commons, and Macaulay plunged at once into the heat of 
battle. His very first sj)eecli in favor of the Eeform Bill 
(1831) placed him in the front rank of orators. The 
Speaker sent for him and told him that he had never seen 
the House in such a state of excitement. Thereafter, 
whenever he rose to speak in Parliament, the remark, 
" Macaulay is np," running through the lobbies and com- 
mittee rooms, was the signal for a general rush to hear him. 
Mr. Morrison thinks that "it may well be questioned 
whether Macaulay was so well endowed for any career as 
that of a great orator. ' ' 

The yonng Whig soon became an important member of 
his party, filling some important offices, and distinguishing 
himself by hard work and high-minded, unselfish devotion 
for the 2)ublic good. He once voted for a measure that 
took away his own office; at another time he resigned his 
government position, rather than hurt his father's feel- 
ings by helping to support a compromise Slavery Bill 



INl'liOlUJCridN 



which hin fiitlior did tio(, approve. All tliis time ho was a 
comparatively poor tiiiin. WIk'H Ik; lirHl, went to college 
his father believed liiinKcll' to Ik; wortli *r)()0,0()(); but 
iiiter(!Bt in f)iiblic rnatt(!rK had led Mr. Macanlay to neglect 
luH private; btiKiiKiSH; and, while th(! koii was Ktill at ('ani- 
bridge, money troubles Ijegaii to throw their shadow on tin; 
fiunily. Mai^auhiy nu'.eived tlii; news bravcily; whihs wait- 
ing for his lellowHhip, took private pupils to I'elieve his 
ra,tli(!r of tilt! burden of his e.\p(uis(!s; devoted his income 
th(!rea,ft(!r to providing for his sisUirs and [)aying olf his 
father's d(!l)tsj and, hanh^st of a,ll, did it with a cheer- 
ful good humor that bi'(>ug]it suuKhinc M,ga,in to tlu; honui. 
C)u(i of his Hist(!rs sa,yK that those; who did not know him 
during those; dark days " tu^vci' knew him in his most brill- 
iaiit, witty, and f(M-til(; ve^in." His fcll()wshi[) of '1|>1,50() 
was v(;ry used'ul to liim, but it (;xj)ir{Ml in bSIJl; his ])oliti- 
cal oHic(! was HW(ij>t away by a (ihange of ministry; he could 
udt possibly make more than !|1,()()() a ycsar l)y writing; and 
while he was winning fame in I'arliamcnt lie was reduced 
to such straits tluit ho liad to sell a gold modal he liad won 
at (!aml)ridge. When, therefore, in IH;54, the post of legal 
advis(!r to tlus Su|)r(une Council of India was olTered him, 
with a salary from \vlii(;li he could in a lew y(!ars save f 100,- 
0(10, he a,(u'(;pte(l, and sailed for India. 

Ill India Ma(;aulay sjxud, sev(;ral years of hard work. 
I'x^sides his Regular olli(;ial duti(;K, he acc(;pt(!(l tin; (chair- 
manships of the (^)mmit,tee of l'ul)li(; Instru(;tiou aiul the 
(Committee to draw \\\) two ncnv Codes of Laws for the 
coiinti'y; and in both these; committees lu; r(;nd(;rcd servi<;(!S 
wlios(; good en'c(;t remains to this day. Among other 
things he helped to introducce the study of I<]iirop(;an 
literature a,nd s(;ien(;(; among the natives of India. IVl(;au- 
while he wrote a f(;w essays for tlu; licnlcin, and read 
j)ro(ligiously. 

.In l.s;5,S lu; returnecl to England. IIi; was at once re 



INTRODUCTION xix 

elected to Parliament as ineiuher for Ediiibur^li, and for 
tlie next tcai years lu; wan a ])roniinent li_i!;ure in the JIonKC 
of (loinnionK and held important oilices, two of them cabi- 
net ol1i(X!B. Hut from the time of his sojourn in India, his 
interest in politics visihiy declined, and after 1848 lie sel- 
dom ap})earcd in pnblic life. 

That wl)ich allured Macaulay from politics was his 
famous " History of p]ngland from the Accession of James 
II.," which engrossed most of his time and thou<r|it during 
the last twenty years of his life. 'J'his "History" is 
" undoubtedly the most brilliant and the most ])opnlar his- 
tory ever written."' The work is in live volumes, and 
covers a period of only seventeen years; but ])robably it has 
been more widely read than any other history in the J^^nglish 
language. It shows vast research, extraordinary power of 
narrative, and an unrivalled s])lendor of style. It has, of 
course, certain faults; but with these we ai-e not now con- 
cerned. ^J'he first two volumcfs appeared in 1818, and took 
England and America by storm. The third aiul fourth 
volumes wei'c published in J8r)5. Tho (il'tli volume, nn- 
iinished, was pnblished jifter the dcuith of th(( autlioi'. 
Within a giHieration of its fii'st ajjpearaiice, one hundred 
and forty thousand copies of the "■History" were sold in 
(ireat Jiritain only. In America no other book except the 
Hible ever had such a sah;. it was translated into (l(!rman, 
I'olish, Danish, Swedish, Hungarian, Russian, IJoiiemian, 
Italian, French, Dutch, Spanish, and Persian. In a single 
check Macaulay received from his English publishers, as 
part of his share of the proceeds, the amazing sum of 
II 00, 000. 

'JVo other literary works of our author remain to be 
noticed. " Lays of Ancient Kome " — a series of martial 
ballads — was published in 1842. liut ])oetry with Ma- 
caulay was rather a recreation than a serious business, and 
' C. K. Adams, Manual uf Historical Literature, p. 40;{. 



XX INTRODUCTION 

these stirring tales in verse, though admirable and widely 
popular, are not so important as his other achievements. 

The last of Macaulay's writings was a group of biograph- 
ical sketches, written during the later years of his life for 
the '' Encyclopaidia Britannica," after he had ceased to 
write for the Eeview, and while he was busy with his 
"History." These were the articles on Atterbury, Bun- 
yan. Goldsmith, Doctor Johnson, and William Pitt, which 
are still to be found under those titles in the present (ninth) 
edition of the " Britannica. " The " Life of William Pitt " 
Avas the last of Macaulay's writings published during his 
life-time. These "Lives," especially, perhaps, the "Life 
of Doctor Johnson," which is the subject of this volume, 
are among the best of his works. 

During his last years honors fell thick and fast on Macau- 
lay's head. He was elected to many positions of distinction 
and honor, and in 1857 he was made a peer of the House 
of Lords — the first literary man to receive that distinc- 
tion. But he never spoke in the House of Lords. For a 
number of years before his death his health was frail. He 
died at his residence, Holly Lodge, Kensington, December 
28, 1859, of heart disease. Two months before, he wrote 
in his diary : " October 25, 1859. My birthday. I am 
fifty-nine years old. Well, I have had a happy life. I do 
not know that any one whom 1 have seen close has had a 
happier." He is buried in the Poet's Corner in West- 
minster Abbey. 

Macaulay was an upright, amiable man, and his life 
was one of placid content and quiet happiness. " No act 
inconsistent with the strictest honor and integrity has 
ever been imputed to him."^ "We cannot imagine him 
doing anything wrong, or even indecorous." ^ He enjoyed 
the good things of life with heartiness, yet he was strik- 

' Mark Pattision. 
^ J. C. Morrison. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

ingly unselfish, and one of the most prominent qualities 
revealed in his "Letters" is a sweet, affectionate tender- 
ness for his friends. His domestic life was singularly 
beautiful. Even his keenest literary critics speak with 
admiration of his bearing towards his parents, his sisters, 
and his nephews and nieces. To the latter he was an ideal 
uncle — the " good uncle " of story books. When he died, 
his sister wrote: " We have lost the light of our home, the 
most tender, loving, generous, unselfish, devoted of friends. 
What he was to me for fifty years who can tell ? What a 
world of love he poured out upon me and mine." His 
only domestic fault, according to his nephew, seems to 
have been that he did not like dogs ! His very last act 
was to write a letter to a poor curate, enclosing a check for 
twenty -five pounds. 

His personal appearance is thus described by his nephew, 
Mr. Trevelyan: 

" Macaulay's outward man was never better described 
than in two sentences of Praed's Introduction to Knight's 
Quarterly Magazine. ' There came up a short, manly fig- 
ure, marvellously upright, with a bad neckcloth, and one 
hand in his waistcoat jDocket. Of regular beauty he had 
little to boast; but in faces where there is an expression 
of great power, or of great good-humor, or both, you do 
not regret its absence.' This picture, in which every 
touch is correct, tells all that there is to be told. He had 
a massive head, and features of a powerful and rugged 
cast; but so constantly lighted up by every joyful and enno- 
bling emotion that it mattered little if, when absolutely 
quiescent, his face was rather homely than handsome. 
While conversing at table, no one thought him otherwise 
than good looking; but when he rose, he was seen to be 
short and stout in figure. . . . He at all times sat 
and stood straight, full, and square; and in this respect 
Woolner, in the fine statue at Cambridge, has missed what 
was undoubtedly the most marked fact in his personal 
appearance. He dressed badly, but not cheaply. His 
clothes, though ill put on, were good." 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

Of his manner in conversation Mr. Trevelyan says: 

" Whatever fault might be found with Macaulay's ges- 
tures as an orator, his appearance and bearing in conversa- 
tion were singularly effective. Sitting bolt upright, his 
hands resting on the arms of his chair or folded over the 
handle of his walking-stick; knitting his great eyebrows if 
the subject was one that had to be thought out as he went 
along, or brightening from the forehead downwards when a 
burst of humor was coming; his massive features and 
honest glance suited well with the manly, sagacious senti- 
ments which he set forth in his pleasant, sonorous voice, 
and in his racy and admirably intelligible language." 

Macaulay's method of work is thus described by his 
nephew : 

" The main secret of Macaulay's success lay in this, that 
to extraordinary fluency and facility he united patient, 
minute, and persistent diligence. He well knew, as Chau- 
cer knew before him, that 

There is na workeman 
Tliat can bothe workeu wel and hastilie. 
Til is must be done at leisure parfaitlie. 

" If his method of composition ever comes into fashion, 
books probably will be better, and undoubtedly will be 
shoi'ter. As soon as he had got into his head all the in- 
formation relating to any particular episode in his ' History ' 
(such, for instance, as Argyll's expedition to Scotland, or 
the attainder of Sir John Fenwick, or the calling in of the 
clipped coinage), he would sit down and write off the whole 
story at a headlong pace; sketching in the outlines under 
the genial and audacious impulse of a first conception; 
and securing in black and white each idea, and epithet, 
and turn of phrase, as it flowed straight from his busy 
brain to his rapid fingers. His manuscript, at this stage, 
to the eyes of any one but himself, appeared to consist of 
column after column of dashes and flourishes, in which a 
straight line with a half formed letter at each end, and 
another in the middle, did duty for a word. . . . 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

" As soon as Macaulay had finished his rough draft, he 
began to fill it in at the rate of six sides of foolscap every 
morning; written in so large a hand, and with such a mul- 
titude of erasures, that the whole six pages were, on an 
average, compressed in two pages of print. This portion 
he called his ' task,' and he was never quite easy unless he 
completed it daily. More he seldom sought to accomplish; 
for he had learned by long experience that this was as 
much as he could do at his best; and except when at his 
best, he never would work at all. 

" Macaulay never allowed a sentence to pass muster until 
it was as good as he could make it. He thought little of 
recasting a chapter in order to obtain a more lucid arrange- 
ment, and nothing whatever of reconstructing a paragraph 
for the sense of one happy stroke or apt illustration. 
Whatever the worth of his labor, at any rate it was a labor 
of love." 

Macaulay's essays may be thus conveniently classified : 

1. English History Group. — Milton;^ Hallam (one of 
the best); John Hampden; Burleigh and his Times (one 
of the weakest) ; Horace Walpole (unjust) ; William Pitt, 
Earl of Chatham (1834; incomplete); The Earl of Chat- 
ham (completes the story of Chatham's life) ; Sir James 
Mackintosh ; Sir William Temple (one of the best) ; Lord 
Clive; Warren Hastings. (The last two are among the 
most famous of the essays.) 

2. Foreign History Groiqj. — Machiavelli; Mirabeau; 
War of the Succession in Spain; Von Kanke (the real 
subject is the "History of the Popes"; the third para- 
graph is widely celebrated); Frederick the Great; Bare re. 

3. Controversial Group. — Mill's Theory of Government 
(three essays); Saddler's Law of Population (two essays); 
Southey's Colloquies on Society; Gladstone on Church and 
State. (These controversial essays possess but little per- 
manent interest.) 

4. Critical Group. — John Dryden; History; Moutgom- 

' See Mr. Croswell's edition in this series. 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

ery; John Bunyan (1830); Lord Byron (discusses the 
nature of poetry); Boswell's " Life of Johnson" (1831); 
Lord Bacon (the poorest of them all) ; Leigh Hunt (the real 
subject is "The Comic Dramatists of the Restoration"); 
Madame D'Arblay; Addison (which Thackeray calls "a 
magnificent statue of the great writer and moralist "). 

5. Biographical Group. — (All written for the " Ency- 
clopgedia Britannica. ") Francis Atterbury; John Bunyan 
(1854); Oliver Goldsmith; Samuel Johnson (1856); Will- 
iam Pitt (son of the Earl of Chatham). 

11. Macaulay's Style and Genius. 

1. "With Macaulay's characteristics as orator, poet, and 
historian we are not now concerned ; for the subject of our 
present study brings him before us as an essayist only, in 
which character, perhaps, he is most widely known. His 
essays, of which a classified list is given above, cover 
a very wide range of subjects. In them Macaulay had 
something to say, directly or indirectly, about nearly all 
the important persons and events in history. For a busy 
man of only moderate education, who has curiosity to 
know a little about the great lives and great thoughts of 
the past, the "Essays" are as good as a library. ^ They 
are somewhat unequal in merit, those written after the 
author's return from India being in some respects better 
than those written before his departure from England ; but 
taken as a whole they are the most famous essays ever 
written in English. They have been read by millions, 
and thousands of copies are still sold every year. If we 
except Shakespeare's plays and Scott's novels, they have 
probably done more to stimulate interest in the past than 
any other books. All that many persons know of history 
they have learned from Macaulay's "Essays." Other 

' Mr. John Morley. 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

works on the same subjects may be more profound and 
more exhaustive, but none are so easily understood and so 
readily enjoyed by the masses. As powerful, popular 
sketches of great subjects from history and literature, they 
are unrivalled; and we can easily believe the traveller in 
Australia who said that the three books which he found on 
every squatter's shelf were Shakespeare, the Bible, and 
Macaulay's "Essays." 

An author who has thus made the history of politics 
and letters interesting to millions is no ordinary writer. 
The general public, in fact, is disposed to think that Ma- 
caulay is not only a great writer, but one of the very 
greatest; and it is certain that in many admirable qualities 
he has never been surpassed. Yet some exj)ert judges, 
examining the Essays from the point of view of the 
highest criticism, find much fault with the judgment of 
the general public, and declare Macaulay to be over- 
praised. The fact seems to be that those who admire the 
Essays and those who find fault with them are thinking 
of different things. The inexpert masses delight in read- 
ing them because of certain admirable qualities in which 
they have never been excelled ; expert critics, passing these 
admirable qualities by with hasty recognition, point to 
some serious shortcomings. It is the purpose of this 
Introduction to help the student to see both the merits and 
the faults of Macaulay as an essayist. 

What, then, is the secret of Macaulay's astonishing 
popularity? As we turn his pages one of the very first 
things that impress us is the vast and accurate knowledge 
of literature and history with which his mind was evidently 
stored. One of the most remarkable things about Ma- 
caulay was the number of things he knew and knew well. 
He seems to his readers to know by heart every book that 
was ever written, to be acquainted with the details of every 
incident in history, and to have at his fingers' end every 



XXTI INTRODUCTION 

trait and anecdote of every important person that ever 
lived; for, whatever his subject, he pours over it with aston- 
ishing ease a flood of illustrations, comparisons, and con- 
trasts drawn from the literature of all languages and the 
history of all countries. His store of information seems 
inexhaustible; his prose, like Milton's poetry, is "freighted 
with the spoils of all ages."^ Macaulay's style, it has 
been truly said, is before all else the style of great literary 
knowledge; and the ordinary reader who would follow 
intelligently the allusions which are scattered over almost 
every page of the Essays must keep his reference books 
constantly at his elbow. When we lay down the Essays 
we involuntarily ask ourselves, " Was there anything this 
man did not know ? " Asa matter of fact Macaulay knew 
very little about philosophy, and his books contain few ref- 
erence, to the astonishing discoveries of modern natural 
science; but we forget these limitations in the presence of 
his wonderful literary and historical information. This is 
the first secret of his wide-sj)read fame. Just as we like to 
listen to the conversation of a well-informed person, so we 
like to read Macaulay's Essays, for from them we learn 
a great many things with very little trouble. 

Another reason for Macaulay's popularity is the manner 
in which he conveys his knowledge to the reader. Many 
learned men are dull authors; Macaulay is one of the most 
agreeable. He had in a remarkable degree the power of 
pleasing by the very manner of his writing, and however 
dry his subject, he always contrived to write what j)ersons 
like to read. The charm of a writer's style, like grace in a 
person's bearing, is a difficult thing to analyze and explain; 
it is a subtle something which we feel, though we can 
hardly describe it; yet some qualities of the style of this 
brilliant writer are so obvious that they can easily be set 
forth. 

' Mark Pattison. 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

For one thing, his language is always absolutely clear. 
Above all things he was resolved to be understood, and it 
is doubtful whether he ever wrote an obscure sentence. 
He never for a moment leaves the reader in doubt as to 
what he means, and he seems to have made it his first care 
to write not only what could be understood, but what must 
be understood. He economizes our attention, as Herbert 
Spencer would say, by using language through which we 
see his ideas as we see objects through fine plate glass — 
without the slightest effort. Macaulay sacrificed some- 
thing to gain this crystalline clearness; yet clearness is 
certainly the first essential of good writing. 

Then, too, Macaulay's style is always lively, his tone 
hearty and strong. His writing has much of the rush and 
eloquence which belonged to his oratory, and it swings our 
attention along by the mere impetuosity of its movement. 
His learning never clogs his story or his explanation; he 
is always moving forward ; and the reading of his pages 
brings much of the exhilaration that comes with all rapid 
motion. A great, strong man, knowing everything, and 
telling us many things with perfect clearness in a lively 
manner and a full round voice — such is Macaulay to the ' 
readers of his Essays. 

These and other qualities make Macaulay one of the 
best story-tellers that ever lived. Others have surpassed 
him in intellectual depth, in moral insight, and in some 
other valuable qualities; but in the mere art of telling a 
story in a clear and interesting way, he has no rival. " He 
is unequalled in our time in his mastery of the art of let- 
ting us know in an express and unmistakable way exactly , 
what it was that happened." ^ His narratives, to use a 
common expression, " read like novels ; " that is to say, 
by the clearness of his pictures and the vivacity of his 
story, he makes persons and events of the past as real and 
'Mr John Morley. 



xxviii INTRODUCTION 

interesting as a skilful novelist makes the creatures of his 
imagination. We see a figure from the eighteenth century 
as vividly as if he were present, and seem to understand 
everything that happened as if we had been there. And 
so easily is all this done that the story seems to tell itself. 
As the reader sees and understands with perfect ease, so 
there is no trace of effort on the part of the author. 

Macaulay, then, knew a marvellous number of interest- 
ing things, which he imparts to the reader in a most lively 
and attractive manner, being, in fact, one of the best 
story-tellers that ever lived. To these qualifies which 
make him a favorite with the masses must be added the 
fact that he never perplexes his readers with deep thinking. 
His writings are full of strong, English common-sense; 
but of profound reflection and close, subtle reasoning there 
is no trace. Anything that would be hard for an ordinary 
man of business to understand is carefully avoided ; every- 
thing is looked at from the point of view of the middle 
classes, who cannot understand philosophers, and do not 
care to do overmuch thinking. He deals, not in the ab- 
stract, but in the concrete. Into the higher regions of 
thought he never goes. His mind moves along a middle 
plane, where the masses can easily follow, and this is an- 
other reason why the masses like to read him. 

Macaulay's want of aspiration, of all effort to rise into 
the higher regions of thought, has lost him the good 
opinion of some readers, and is the first of those shortcom- 
ings which expert critics consider grave faults, "He is 
one of the most entertaining, but also one of the least 
suggestive, of writers." He "did nothing to stir the 
deeper mind or the deeper feelings of his multitude of 
readers." " He never had anything to say on the deeper 
aspects and relations of life; and it would not be easy to 
quote a sentence from either his published works or private 
letters which shows insight into or meditation on love, or 



INTR D UC TION X x i x 

marriage, or friendship, or the education of children, or 
religion." "His learning is confined to book lore; he is 
not well read in the human heart, and still less in the 
human spirit." " His strength lay not in thinking but in 
drawing." These are some of the criticisms made with 
perfect truth by such critics as Walter Bagehot, Cotter 
Morrison, Mr. John Morley, and Mr. Leslie Stephen. * 
" Compare him with a calm, meditative, original writer 
like De Quincey, and you become vividly aware of his 
peculiar deficiency, as well as his peculiar strength; you 
find a more rapid succession of ideas and greater wealth of 
illustration, but you miss the subtle casuistry, the exact 
and finished similitudes, and the breaking up of routine 
views. No original opinion requiring patient considera- 
tion or delicate analysis is associated with the name of Ma- 
caulay. It better suited his stirring and excitable nature 
to apply his dazzling powers of expression and illustration 
to the opinions of others."^ 

This lack of depth in Macaulay's thinking is most 
noticeable, perhaps, in his sketches of character. It has 
been justly said that no one else describes so well the spec- 
tacle of a character, for Macaulay can always tell what 
people said, what they did, what they looked like; but he 
had " no eye for the deeper springs of character, the finer 
shades of motive." ^ " He can draw a most vivid portrait, 
so far as can be done by a picturesque accumulation of 
characteristic facts; but he never gets below the surface." ^ 
He can describe graphically exterior life, but his insight 
into men's bosoms is not deep. " Some portion of the 
essence of human nature is concealed from him; but all 
its accessories are at his command."^ " Macaulay never 

' See Bibliography, p. xl. 

" Minto, Manual of English Prose Ldteralure. 

^ J. C. Morrison. * Mr. Leslie Stephen. 

" Walter Bagehot. 



XXX INTRODUCTION 

stops to brood over an incident or a character, with an inner 
eye intent on penetrating to the lowest depth of motive 
and cause, to the furthest complexity of impulse, calcula- 
tion, and subtle incentive. The spirit of analysis is not 
in him. His whole mind runs in action and movement; 
it busies itself with eager interest in all objective particu- 
lars. He is seized by the external and the superficial, and 
revels in every detail that appeals to the five senses. "^ 
"It may be noticed that the remarkable interest he often 
awakens in a story, which he tells so admirably, is nearly 
always the interest of adventure, never the interest of 
psychological analysis. Events and outward actions are 
told with incomparable clearness and vigor — but a thick 
curtain hangs before the inward theatre of the mind, which 
is never revealed on his stage." ^ 

Another quality which hurts Macaulay in the opinion 
of men who are accustomed to careful and accurate think- 
ing, though it is another reason for his popularity with the 
masses, is the extreme positiveness which pervades his 
writings. He represents everything as absolutely certain, 
and "goes forward with a grand confidence" in himself, 
his facts, and his opinions, which is delightful to many, 
but displeasing to those who know how extremely uncertain 
just these very things are. Macaulay is a "dealer in 
unqualified propositions." ^ However much obscurity may 
envelop a fact of history or a subject in literature, he 
" marches through the intricacies of things in a blaze of 
certainty." This confident tone is partly the expression 
of Macaulay's character, for he was a man of very positive 
convictions; but it is also, perhaj)s, a rhetorical quality 
cultivated in the interest of absolute clearness to the ordi- 
nary mind. " Eschewing high thought on the one hand, 
and deep feeling on the other, he marched down a middle 
road of resonant commonplace, quite certain that where 

' Mr. John Morley. ^ J. C. Morrison. ' Mr. Morley. 



INTBODUCTION xxxi 

* Bang, whang, whang, goes the dram. 
And tootle-tee-tootle the fife,' 

the densest crowd, marching in time, will follow the 
music. "1 A dense crowd has, indeed, followed Macau- 
lay's drum and trum^iet style with great satisfaction; but 
persons of highly cultivated taste are disposed to stop their 
ears in the presence of his resounding, banging phrases. 
Pattison well expressed the feeling of this class of readers 
when he said: "He has a constant tendency to glaring 
colors, to strong effects, and will always be striking violent 
blows. He is not merely exuberant, but excessive. There 
is an overwhelming confidence about his tone; he expi-esses 
himself in trenchant phrases, which are like challenges to 
an opponent to stand up and deny them. His propositions 
have no qualifications. Uninstructed readers like this 
assurance, as they like a physician who has no doubt about 
their case. But a sense of distrust grows upon the more 
circumspect reader as he follows page after page of Ma- 
caulay's categorical affirmations about matters which our 
own experience of life teaches us to be of a contingent 
nature. We inevitably think of a saying attributed to 
Lord Melbourne, ' I wish I were as cock-sure of any one 
thing as Macaulay is of everything.' "^ 

This is what critics mean when they speak of Macaulay's 
inaccuracy. It is not that his memory is at fault or that 
his learning is inadequate, but that the rush and the vigor 
of his thought lead him occasionally into sweeping asser- 
tions which are really exaggerations. His writings abound 
in superlative expressions; his style is marked by a wonder- 
ful vigor that sometimes overshoots the mark. When a 
difficult question crosses his path, he disposes of it in a 
dashing way with some simple, easy answer, which every- 
one can understand, but which more profound thinkers 
perceive to be inadequate and unsatisfactory. It is cer- 
' J. C. Morrison. ^ Encydopmdia Britannica. 



xxxii INTRODUCTION 

tain, however, that Macaulay was never intentionally inac- 
curate, and that he never knowingly called black white, or 
white black. He is a thoroughly honest, manly writer; 
and his exaggerations are only manifestations of that hearti- 
ness which was a part of his strong character. 

To sum up, Macaulay, as Mr. Frederick Harrison has 
remarked, has led millions who read no one else, or who 
never read before, to know something of the past, and to 
enjoy reading. Let us be thankful f oi- his energy, learning, 
brilliance. He is no priest, philosopher, or master; but 
let us delight in him as a companion. In one thing all 
agree — critics and the public, friends and opponents — 
Macaulay's was a life of purity, honor, courage, generosity, 
affection, and manly perseverance, almost without a stain or 
a defect. His was a fine, generous, honorable, and sterling 
nature. His books deserve their vast popularity; but Ma- 
caulay must not be judged among philosophers nor even 
among the greatest masters of the English language. He 
stands between philosophic historians and the public very 
much as journals and periodicals stand between the masses 
and great libraries. Macaulay is a glorified journalist 
and reviewer, who brings the matured results of scholars 
to the man in the street in a form that he can remember 
and enjoy, when he could not make use of a learned book. 
He performs the office of the ballad-maker or story-teller 
in an age before books were common. And it is largely 
due to the influence of his style that the best journals and 
periodicals of our day are written in a style so clear, so 
direct, so resonant.^ 

The technical elements of Macaulay's style can be profit- 
ably studied only in connection with the text of his writ- 
ings; all discussion of such matters is therefore reserved 
for the Notes (see p. 104). 

' This paragraph is based, with some changes, upon a portion of 
Mr. Harrison's article in The Forum for September, 1894. 



INTRODUCTION xxxiii 

III. Macaulay on Johnson". 

Macaulay wrote two articles on Samuel Johnson, 
twenty-five years apart, and very different in character. 
The first appeared in the Edinburgh Review in September, 
1831, as a I'eview of J. W. Croker's edition of " Boswell's 
Life of Johnson. " Croker ^ was one of Macaulay 's political 
opponents in the House of Commons, twenty years his 
senior, and a bitter personal enemy. He had ability, was 
Secretary to the Admiralty, and an enthusiatic student of 
history and literature; but he was an unamiable man, and 
in one of his speeches had spoken of Macaulay's orations 
as "vague generalities handled with that brilliant imagin- 
ation which tickles the ear and amuses the fancy without 
satisfying the reason." The purpose and temjaer of Ma- 
caulay's review of Croker's edition of " Boswell," may be 
best learned from several passages in Macaulay's letters. 
Three months before Croker's book appeared, Macaulay 
wrote to the editor of the Edinburgh Beview, " I will cer- 
tainly review Croker's ' Boswell ' when it comes out." One 
week after the book was published he wrote to his sister: 
" I am to review Croker's edition of Bozzy. It is wretch- 
edly ill done. The notes are poorly written and shame- 
fully inaccurate." A few weeks later, after making an 
extemporaneous speech in the House of Commons, he 
wrote: ''I ought to tell you that Peel was very civil, and 
cheered me loudly; and that impudent, leering Croker 
congratulated the House on the proof which I had given 
of my readiness. . . . See whether I do not dust that 
varlet's jacket for him in the next number of the Blue 
and Yellow? I detest him more than cold boiled veal." 

' See Mr. Miller's edition of Southey's Life of Nelson, in this 
series, p. xxi., and Southey's dedication, p. 3. 

' The cover of the Edinburgh Review was dark blue, with a yellow 
back. 



xxxiv INTRODUCTION 

On October 17, 1831, after his article appeared, he wrote : 
" Croker looks across the House of Commons at me with 
a leer of hatred which I repay with a gracious smile of 
pity." 

It is evident that a review inspired by this personal 
quarrel can have littie permanent interest. The first 
forty paragraphs of the essay on '' Boswell's Life of John- 
son " treat only of Croker's edition of Boswell's celebrated 
book, and smack strongly of personal animosity. In them 
the reviewer dwells at length and with relish on certain 
errors in Croker's dates and genealogies, ascribing to them 
an exaggerated importance, and exposing them in a way 
to humiliate Croker and make him out a dunce. He says 
Croker's book is "as bad as bad could be y" maintains that 
the " notes absolutely swarm with misstatements ; " com- 
ments in detail on the ''monstrous blunders" and ''scan- 
dalous inaccuracy ; " and declares Croker to be " entitled 
to no confidence whatever." Macaulay's criticism is 
founded on fact, but it is unjust in tone and emphasis. 
A more just, though still an unfavorable, review of 
Croker's " Boswell " will be found in Carlyle's " Essay " 
on the same subject. The rest of Macaulay's " Essay 
on Boswell's Johnson " consists of two parts. The 
first treats at length of the character of Boswell, the 
second discusses Doctor Johnson himself. These parts of 
the " Essay " are marked by all the vigor and vivacity of 
Macaulay's early style. The eccentricities of both Bos- 
well and Johnson are set forth with unexampled clearness 
and power; but combined with these brilliant qualities of 
style is a tendency to exaggeration, a lack of insight into 
character, and a superficial treatment of difficult prob- 
lems, which make the "Essay" unjust to both Johnson 
and his satellite. 

The second of Macaulay's articles on Johnson, and by 
far the best, is the " Life of Samuel Johnson," written in 



INTRODUCTION xxxv 

1856 for the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," and retained in 
the present edition of that standard work. In this " Life," 
written when his style was matured and when his resources 
were in all their fulness, we have Macaulay at his very 
best. The tone is moderate, the language is chaste, and 
though there is little appreciation of Johnson's inner 
character, the external husk of the man is delineated in a 
nuisterly way. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHEES AND 
STUDENTS 

Macaulay's " Life of Johnson " is a sketch of the cen- 
tral literary figure of the eighteenth century, by one of the 
most accomplished literary artists of the nineteenth; both 
its subject-matter aud its form, therefore, demand the 
careful attention of the student of English literature. 
Persons of disciplined mind and trained judgment may 
study both at once, but young students, with whom all 
reading is more or less difficult, cannot well attend to more 
than one thing at a time. If they are required to spend 
their little store of mental energy on unfamiliar words, his- 
torical and literary allusions, and still to follow the progress 
of the author's thought, observe his plan, and note the de- 
tails of his diction, they are almost sure to do nothing well, 
(ind, even worse than that, to grow weary of literary study 
. — a sorry outcome of a course of training the object of which 
is to foster love for good reading. That all things may be 
done well, it seems best to do one thing at a time; the 
notes in this volume have therefore been separated into 
two groups: Explanatory Notes, for use in the student's 
first reading, and a Critical Note, for use in later readings. 

The following suggestions are offered to those who may 
have no better plan of their own. 

I. The first step in the study of such a piece of Avritiug 
as Macaulay's "Life of Samuel Johnson," is to make the 
acquaintance of the author. This can most satisfactorily 
be done from one or more of the biographies of Macaulay 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS xxxvii 

mentioned below, and teachers who have time and oppor- 
tunity will do well to require as supplementary reading 
either Trevelyan's "Life and Letters," or Mr. Morrison's 
brief "Life." When this is not practicable, at least as 
much of Macaulay's life and work as is contained in the 
Introduction to the present volume should be mastered 
by the student before he takes up the " Life of Johnson." 
At least one recitation period may well be used in an 
examination, oral or written, on the chief points in Ma- 
caulay's life, and the general merits and faults which his 
writing may be expected to disclose. 

II. When the student has made the acquaintance of 
Macaulay, he is ready to begin the "Life of Johnson." 
Here, obviously, the first thing to do is to read the text so 
as to understand it; for clear understanding must come be- 
fore critical appreciation. During this first reading, im- 
mature students should not be bothered with literary criti- 
cism beyond what their own taste or judgment may suggest 
to them. They should be left alone with Macaulay's style, 
just as Agassiz used to leave his pupils alone with the bit 
of nature which they were studying, and for much the 
same reason; namely, that their own critical faculties may 
have room for development. In order that their time 
may not be dissipated, and they themselves wearied and 
disheartened by laborious and often fruitless searches after 
the meaning of allusions and names the relative im|)ortance 
of which they do not know, a certain amount of assist- 
ance in following Macaulay's numerous references to his- 
tory and literature is given in the Exj^lanatory Notes. 
Macaulay wrote primarily, not for school-boys, but for 
readers of mature culture; and the average student in 
secondary schools, even after he has received the help of 
the Explanatory Notes, which treat only of historical 
and literary allusions, will find enough of difficulty remain- 
ing to occupy his time, train his own thinking faculties. 



xxxviii SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS 

and make him familiar with the use of dictionaries and 
other books of reference. 

This reading of the text with a view to grasping its sub- 
ject-matter should be done out of class, at a rate, according 
to circumstances, of from four to ten pages a lesson. 
During the recitation period the teacher should assure him- 
self, by examinations, oral or written, or both, that the 
reading has been carefully done. One good plan is to re- 
quire a brief impromptu composition exercise on some sub- 
ject taken from the lesson but not announced beforehand, 
and to follow this with a rapid fire of oral questions, not 
necessarily exhaustive, on the meaning of words, the persons 
or places mentioned in the text, and the subject-matter. 
That this oral questioning may be rapid, it is convenient 
for the teacher to underscore in red or blue in his own 
book the subjects which he wishes to select as tests of the 
pupils' work. This questioning, of course, must not be 
confined to the subjects treated in the notes. For instance, 
on page 1 of the "Life of Johnson," such questions as 
these might be asked: Mention some of the most emi- 
nent English writers of the eighteenth century. Give an 
account of Johnson's father. Where is Lichfield ? Name 
the Midland counties. What is an oracle 9 The meaning 
here of the word clergy ? Meaning of churchman f 
Meaning of municijjoj? Explain the sovereigns in posses- 
sion. Meaning of Jacobite 9 Where and when was 
Johnson born? Mention his peculiarities as a child. 
Meaning of morbid, propensity, the royal touch 9 Exj)lain 
the old common name for scrofula. The following are 
suitable topics for short written exercises: Johnson's 
Father; Johnson's Peculiarities as a Child; The King's 
Evil. Written examinations should be frequent. 

After the teacher has thus quickly tested the pupil's 
work — and tests need not be long or exhaustive in order 
to be thorough — what remains of the recitation period may 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS xxxix 

be occupied with any interesting matter bearing on the 
general subject. Pictures may be shown, stories of John- 
son may be told, reports of special investigations heard. 
Without any reference to published criticisms, the pupils 
should be encouraged to form and express opinions of 
their own about either Johnson's character or Macaulay's 
style. Whether their opinions are right or wrong matters 
little; the important thing is that they learn to notice, to 
compare, and to think for themselves. If it be necessary 
to correct some grave error in opinion, it should be done 
with great gentleness, so as not to frighten timid thinkers. 
If some pupils are over-forward in making up their minds, 
it will perhaps be enough to remind them that their pres- 
ent opinions cannot be regarded as final. To this part of 
the recitation belongs, also, the important work described 
in IV. 

III. After the student has carefully read the text so as 
to master its subject-matter and to form some independent 
opinion of the author's style, he is ready to take up the 
critical study of the work, and to rectify, if need be, 
his first impressions. To assist in this study of form and 
structure, a brief Critical Note, containing a few general 
hints as to method, has been added to this volume. It 
is by no means advisable that preparatory school pupils 
should make anything like an elaborate study of anyone's 
style. Something, however, may be accomplished in lead- 
ing the student to imitate the finer qualities of Macaulay's 
style, and to know what it is that he is doing, and how he 
does it. Attention should be fixed on diction, sentence 
structure, paragraph structure, and the arrangement of the 
whole composition, No books will be needed for this work, 
except a good treatise on rhetoric, though the teacher may 
be glad to consult Minto's "English Prose Writers" and 
Brewster's " Studies in Structure and Style." 

IV. Some teachers and students may be obliged by 



xl SUGGESTIONS FOR TEA CHERS AND STUDENTS 

limitations of time or opportunity to stop here, content 
with a mastery of the subject-matter and some insight into 
the peculiarities of the author's style; but the most valu- 
able fruit of the study of Macaulay's " Life of Johnson " 
yet remains to be gathered. The real opportunity of 
both teacher and student lies in the fact that Johnson is 
the central literary figure of the later eighteenth cen- 
tury, and that Macaulay's "Life," because of its many 
allusions and cross references, is one of the best starting 
points for a study of that interesting period in the history 
of English life and letters. Into that rich field the 
"Life of Johnson" should be the gate. Though men- 
tioned last, this study may go along with the work described 
in I. and II. Subjects for special investigation should 
be assigned to different pupils, and compositions on them 
read before the class. Books, or chajiters in books, may 
be appointed for supplementary or home reading. The 
student who, taking the " Life of Johnson " as a starting 
point, will read along the lines suggested by Macaulay's 
allusions, will be surprised to find how his horizon will be 
enlarged and his thinking be enriched. To assist in this 
important part of the study, a fairly full list of books has 
been given in the Bibliography, and a few hints for the 
guidance of the student have been embodied in the Critical 
Note. 

Bibliography. 

1. Macaulay. The authorized edition of Macaulay's 
Works is that edited by his sister. Lady Trevelyan, and pub- 
lished in eight volumes by Longmans, Green, and Co. The 
same publishers issue various cheap editions of the several 
works. The " Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay," 2 vols., 
by his nephew, Sir G. Otto Trevelyan, is the standard biog- 
raphy, and a most readable book. The story of Macau- 
lay's connection with the Edinhm^gh Revieio mav be traced 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS xli 

in " Selections from the Correspondence of the late Mac- 
vey Napier." The best short biography is by J. Cotter' 
Morrison in the English Men of Letters Series. Still 
shorter are the articles on Macaulay in the " Encyclo- 
ptedia Britannica, " by Mark Pattison, and in the "Dic- 
tionary of National Biography," by Mr. Leslie Stephen. 
The best critical essays are by Walter Bagehot in " Literary 
Studies," vol. ii. ; Mr. Leslie Stephen, in " Hours in a 
Library," vol. iii. ; Mr. John Morley in ''Miscellanies," 
vol. ii., reprinted in Brewster's " Studies in Structure and 
Style" (Macmillan) ; and J. C. Morrison in his "Life." 
See also W. E. Gladstone's "Gleanings of Past Years." 
Minto's "Manual of English Prose Literature" contains 
a study of Macaulay's style with reference to technical 
rhetoric. 

2. Johnson. The standard edition of Johnson's Works 
is the Oxford Classic Edition, 11 vols. "Easselas" has 
been reprinted in many editions; among the best are 
those of Prof. F. N. Scott (Leach, Shewell, and Sanborn) 
and Prof. 0. F. Emerson (Henry Holt and Co.). The 
Rambler and the Icllei' are separately printed in the series 
of " British Essayists," or may be consulted in G. B. Hill's 
"Select Essays of Samuel Johnson" (Macmillan). The 
"Vanity of Human Wishes" is in Syle's "From Milton 
to Tennyson;" both it and "London," are in Hales's 
"Longer English Poems." The "Lives of the Poets" 
may be had in the ten cent National Library (Cassell 
Publishing Co. ), or in the Bohn Library, 3 vols. A selec- 
tion of the "Six Chief Lives" (Milton, Dryden, Swift, 
Addison, Pope, and Gray) has been edited by Matthew 
Arnold (Macmillan; Holt). The best edition of Boswell's 
"Life of Johnson" is that edited by Mr. G. Birkbeck 
Hill (6 vols. Macmillan; Harper), a work that contains 
a wealth of supplementary material, and, with its admirable 
index, is one of the best reference books on eighteenth cen- 



xlii sua GESTIONS FOR TEA CHERS AND STUDENTS 

tury life and literature. Other editions in order of im- 
portance are Napier's, Mr. Henry Morley's (Routledge), 
and Croker's (Bohn). All of these contain many interest- 
ing pictures. A condensed "Boswell," "relieved from 
passages of obsolete interest," is published by Henry Holt 
and Co. Mrs. Piozzi's " Anecdotes of Doctor Johnson," 
first published in 1786, may be had in the cheap National 
Series (Cassell); but everything of importance in the " An- 
ecdotes " is included in the notes to Hill's ''Boswell. " 
The same remark is true of Sir John Hawkins's " Life of 
Johnson," published in 1787. The Correspondence of 
Johnson and Mrs. Thrale is printed, in part, in Scoone's 
"Four Centuries of English Letters." 

Of modern critical biographies of Johnson the best is 
by Mr. Leslie Stephen in the English Men of Letters Series. 
This keen critic is also the author of the sketch in the 
"Dictionary of National Biography." Lieutenant-Colo- 
nel Grant's "Johnson," in the Oreat Writers Series, 
contains a bibliography to the year 1887. Among critical 
studies should be mentioned Landor's "Imaginary Con- 
versations between Samuel Johnson and John Home 
Tooke; " Mr. Leslie Stephen's " Dr. Johnson's Writings " 
in "Hours in a Library," vol. ii. ; Carlyle's " Essay on Bos- 
well's Life of Johnson," which may be regarded as a reply 
to Macaulay's essay on the same subject; Mr. A. Birrell's 
"Dr. Johnson" in "Obiter Dicta," Second Series; Mr. 
G. Birkbeck Hill's "Dr. Johnson, his Friends, and his 
Critics; " and chapters in Taine's " History of English 
Literature," Minto's "Manual of English Prose Litera- 
ture," and Gosse's " History of Eighteenth Century Liter- 
ature." For the life of Boswell, apart from Johnson, see 
" Boswelliana: the Commonplace Book of James Boswell " 
(London: 1874), and Mr. Leslie Stephen's "Boswell" in 
the "Dictionary of National Biography." 

3. EigMeenth Century History and Literature. For 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS xliii 

political history Gardiuer's "Student's History of Eng- 
land" (Longmans) is probably the most convenient book 
for general use. Chapter iii. of Macaulay's "History" 
should be within reach; and Green's "Short History of 
the English People" is always valuable. Macaulay's 
Essays on "Horace Walpole," the "Earl of Chatham," 
"Madame D'Arblay," "Addison," and "Oliver Gold- 
smith," all treat of this period. Among special histories 
should be mentioned W. E. H. Lecky's " History of Eng- 
land in the Eighteenth Century," especially chapters iv., 
ix,, and xxiii. ; Edmund Gosse's " History of Eighteenth 
Century Literature " (the best sketch of the literature of 
the period); and Mr. Leslie Stephen's " History of Eng- 
lish Thought in the Eighteenth Century." Additional 
illustrations of the life of this period will be found in the 
Tatler and the Spectator ; Madame D'Arblay's " Diary and 
Letters " and " Early Journals; " Horace AValpole's " Let- 
ters; " Nichol's " Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth 
Century;" and Thackeray's "Lectures on the Four 
Georges." 

4. London. Maps of London may be had in all sizes 
and styles from Rand, McNally, and Co. Baedeker's 
"Handbook for London," with its excellent maps and> 
full index, is useful. For information about London of 
the eighteenth century see Wheatley's " London, Past and 
Present," 3 vols.; Hutton's "Literary Landmarks of 
London; " Lemon's " Up and Down the London Streets; " 
Hare's "Walks in London;" and Mr. Walter Besant's 
"London" (Harpers; published originally in Harper'' s 
Magazine, June, 1892). 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

The following questions may be of some service to 
teachers and students by way of indicating possible 
methods of examination. 

1. Show, by analysis, the grammatical structure of 
the last sentence in paragraph 41 (page 36). Parse 
lohicli (36 9), hammer (30 12). 

2. Comment in detail on the structure of the sentences 
in paragraph 32 (page 23). What can you say of the 
length of the sentences and their arrangement in the 
paragraph ? By liarty (23 20) does Macaulay mean one 
or more persons ? 

3. Explain the meaning (and, if important for that 
purpose, give the derivation) of the following words : 
desultory (3 18), ceruse (6 31), novice (8 25), ordinaries 
(9 21), alamode (9 21), sycojyhancy (9 28), rahhis (13 23), 
maundered (34 8), poetasters (39 3), mitigated (43 20). 

4. Explain, as fully as possible, the following refer- 
ences and allusions : sucli an author as Thomson (8 17) ; 
"the Senate of Lilliput" (10 17) ; the Gapulets against 
the Montagues (10 29, 30) ; Grul Street (14 26) ; Drury 
Lane Theatre (16 35). This species of comjyosition had 
heeji hrought into fashion hy the success of the Tatler, 
and hy the still more hriUiant success of the Spectator 
(18 5-7) ; toitty as Lady Mary (20 9, 10) ; Johnson has 
frequently blamed ShaTcspeare for neglecting the pro- 
prieties of time and place (23 27-29) ; Coch Lane Ghost 
(26 31) ; Macpherson, ivhose " Fingal" had been proved 
to be an impudent forgery (36 4, 5). 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS xlv 

5. Write briefly of Johnson's Dictionary and " Kas- 
selas." To what does Johnson owe his great reputation ? 
Why ? Write briefly of Johnson's friends. Explain the 
difference between the political opinions of Johnson and 
Burke, and attempt to account for it. Mention the 
chief characteristics of Johnson's style. Comment on 
Macaulay's statement (21 30-32) that English, as John- 
son wrote it, was scarcely a Teutonic language. 

6. Give a list of the famous English authors contem- 
porary with Johnson, and a list of such of their works as 
you have read in whole or in part. On what books have 
you chiefly depended for your knowledge of English 
literature in the eighteenth century ? Contrast briefly 
"The Vicar of Wakefield" and '' Easselas." What 
poet of Johnson's time is most his opposite in character 
and genius ? Why ? What other famous novels besides 
" Easselas " (excluding " The Vicar of Wakefield ") were 
written in the " Johnson age " and how do they compare 
with " Easselas " in method and interest ? 

7. What traits of Macaulay's character made him 
especially well fitted to appreciate Johnson's genius ? 
How, in your opinion, does the "■ Life of Johnson " com- 
pare in interest with other writings of Macaulay ? Has 
it, in your opinion, any conspicuous limitations or de- 
fects ? 

8. Mention any parts of the " Life " that have specially 
interested you or have proved particularly suggestive. 



xlvi 



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P 



SAMUEL JOHNSON 

(DECEMBER, 1856) 

I 

1. Samuel Johnson, one of the most eniiuent English 
writers of the eighteenth century, was the son of Michael 
Johnson, who was, at tlie beginning of that century, a 
magistrate of Lichfield, and a bookseller of great note in 
the midland col^uties. Michael's abilities and attainments 5 
seem to have been considerable. He was so well acquainted 
with the contents of the volumes which he exposed to 
sale, that the country rectors of Staffordshire and Worces- 
tershire thought him an oracle on points of learning. ■ Be- 
tween him and the clergy, indeed, there was a strong reli- lo 
gious and political sympathy. He was a zealous churchman, 
and, though he had qualified himself for muuicij^al office 
by taking the oaths to tlie sovereigns in possession, was to 
the last a Jacobite in heart. At his house, a house which 
is still poiiited out to every traveller who visits Lichfield, 15 
Samuel was born on the 18th of September, 1709. In the 
child, the physical, intellectual, and moral peculiarities 
which afterwards distinguished the man were j^lainly dis- 
cernible; great muscular strength accompanied by much 
awkwardness and many infirmities; great quickness of 30 
parts, with a morbid propensity to sloth and procrastina- 
tion ; a kind and generous heart, with a gloomy and irri- 
table temper. He had inherited from his ancestors a 
scrofulous taint, which it was beyond the power of medi- 
cine to remove. His parents were weak enough to believe 25 
that the royal touch was a specific for this malady. In his ( 
third year he was taken up to London, inspected by the j 

1 



'Z LIFE OF SAMUA'L JOM^VSOIf 

court surgeon, prayed over 1)y the court chaplains, and 
stroked and presented with a ]iioce of gold by Queen 
Anne. One of his earliest recollections was that of a 
stately lady in a diamond stomacher and : long black hood. 
5 Her hand was applied in vain. The boy's features, which 
were originally noble and not irregular, were distorted by 
his malady. His cheeks Avere deeply scarred. He lost for 
a time the sight of one eye; and he saw but very imper- 
fectly with the other. But the force of his mind overcame 

10 every impediment. Indolent as he was, he acquired 
knowledge with such ease and raj^idity that at every school 
to which he was sent he was soon the best scholar. From 
sixteen to eighteen he resided at home, and was left to his 
own devices. He learned much at this time, though his 

15 studies were without guidance and without plan. He ran- 
sacked his father's shelves, dipped into a multitude of 
books, read what was interesting, and passed over what was 
dull. An ordinary lad would have acquired little or no 
useful knowledge in such a way: but much that was dull 

20 to ordinary lads was interesting to Samuel. He read little 
Greek : for his proficiency in that language was not such 
that he could take much pleasure in the masters of Attic 
poetry and eloquence. But he had left school a good Latin- 
ist; and he soon acquired, in the large and miscellaneous 

25 library of which he now had the command, an extensive 
knowledge of Latin literature. That Augustan delicacy 
of taste Avhich is the boast of the great public schools of 
England he never possessed. But he was early familiar 

•• with some classical writers who were quite unknown to 

30 the best scholars in the sixth form at Eton. He was pecu- 
liarly attracted by the works of the great restorers of learn- 
ing. Once, while searching for some apjjles, he found a 
huge folio volume of Petrarch's works. The name ex- 
cited his curiosity; and he eagerly devoured hundreds of 

35 pages. Indeed, the diction and versification of his own 



LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 3 

Latiu compositions show that he had paid at least as much 
attention to modern copies from the antique as to the ori- 
ginal models. 

2. While he was thus irregularly educating himself, his 
family was sinking into hopeless poverty. Old Michael 5 
Johnson was much better qualified to pore upon books, 
and to talk about them, than to trade in them. His busi- 
ness declined; his debts increased; it was with difficulty 
that the daily expenses of his household were defrayed. It 
was out of his power to sujjport his son at either univer- 10 
sity; but a wealthy neighbour offered assistance; and, in 
reliance on promises which proved to be of very little value, 
Samuel was entered at Pembroke College, Oxford. When 
the young scholar presented himself to the rulers of that 
society, they were amazed not more by his ungainly figure 15 
and eccentric manners than by the quantity of extensive 
and curious information which he had picked up during 
many months of desultory but not unprofitable study. On 
the first day of his residence he surprised his teachers by 
quoting Macrobius; and one of the most learned among 20 
them declared that he had never known a freshman of 

^ equal attainments. 

3. At Oxford, Johnson resided during about three years. 
He was poor, even to raggedness; and his appearance ex- 
cited a mirth and a pity which were equally intolerable to 25 
his haughty spirit. He was driven from the quadrangle 

of Christ Church by the sneering looks which the mem- 
bers of that aristocratical society cast at the lioles in his 
shoes. Some charitable person jolaced a new pair at his 
door; but he spurned them away in a fury. Distress made 30 
him, not servile, but reckless and ungovernable. No opu- 
lent gentleman commoner, panting for one-and-twenty, 
could have treated the academical authorities with more 
gross disrespect. The needy scholar was generally to be 
seen under the gate of Pembroke, a gate now adorned 35 



4 LIFE OF 8AMVEL JOHNSON 

with his effigy, haranguing a circle of lads, over whom, in 
spite of his tattered gown and dirty linen, his wit and au- 
dacity gave him an undisputed ascendency. In every 
mutiny against the discipline of the college he was the 
5 ringleader. Much was pardoned, however, to a youth so 
highly distinguished by abilities and acquirements. He 
had early made himself known by turning Pope's " Mes- 
siah " into Latin verse. The style and rhythm, indeed, 
were not exactly Virgilian; but the translation found many 
JO admirers, and was read with pleasure by Pope himself. 

4. The time drew near at which Johnson would, in tlie 
ordinary course of things, have become a Bachelor of Arts : 
but he was at the end of his resources. Those promises of 
support on which he had relied had not been kept. His 

15 family could do nothing for him. His debts to Oxford 
tradesmen were small indeed, yet larger than he could 
pay. In the autumn of 1731, he was under the necessity 
of quitting the university without a degree. In the fol- 
lowing winter his father died. The old man left but a 

20 pittance; and of that pittance almost the whole was appro- 
priated to the support of his widow. The joroperty to 
which Samuel succeeded amounted to no more than twenty 
pounds. 

5. His life, during the thirty years which followed, was 
25 one hard struggle with poverty. • The misery of that 

struggle needed no aggravation, but was aggravated by 
the sufferings of an unsound body and an unsound mind. 
Before the young man left the university, his hereditary 
malady had broken forth in a singularly cruel form. He 

30 had become an incurable hypochondriac. He said long 
after that he had been mad all his life, or at least not per- 
fectly sane; and, in truth, eccentricities less strange than 
his have often been thought grounds sufficient for absolving 
felons, and for setting aside wills. His grimaces, his ges- 

35 tures, his mutterings, sometimes diverted and sometimes 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 5 

terrified people who did not know him. At a dinner table 
he would, in a fit of absence, stoop down and twitch off a 
lady's shoe. He would amaze a drawing-room by suddenly 
ejaculating a clause of the Lord's Prayer. He would con- 
ceive an unintelligible aversion to a particular alley, and 5 
perform a great circuit rather than see the hateful place. 
He would set his heart on touching every post in the streets 
through which he walked. If by any chance he missed a 
post, he would go back a hundred yards and repair the 
omission. Under the influence of his disease, his senses 10 
became morbidly torpid, and his imagination morbidly ■' ' ' 
active. At one time he would stand poring on the town 
clock without being able to tell the hour. At another, he 
would distinctly hear his mother, who was many miles off, 
calling him by his name. But this was not the worst. A 15 
deep melancholy took possession of him, and gave a dark 
tinge to all his views of human nature and of human 
destiny. Such wretchedness as he endured has driven 
many men to shoot themselves or drown themselves. But 
he was under no temptation to commit suicide. He was 20 
sick of life ; but he was afraid of death ; and he shuddered 
at every sight or sound which reminded him of the inevi- 
table hour. In religion he found but little comfort dur- 
ing his long and frequent fits of dejection ; for his religion 
partook of his own character. The light from heaven 25 
shone on him indeed, but not in a direct line, or with its 
own pure splendour. The rays had to struggle through 
a disturbing medium ; they reached him refracted, dulled 
and discoloured by the thick gloom which had settled on his 
soul; and, though they might be sufficiently clear to guide 30 
him, Avere too dim to cheer him. 

G. With such infirmities of body and mind, this cele- 
brated man was left, at two-and-twenty, to fight his way 
through the world. He remained during about five years 
in the midland counties. At Lichfield, his birthplace and 35 



6 LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 

his early home, he had inherited some friends and acquired 
others. He was kindly noticed by Henry Hervey, a gay 
officer of noble family, who happened to be quartered 
there. Gilbert Walmesley, registrar of the ecclesiastical 
5 conrt of the diocese, a man of distinguished parts, learn- 
ing, and knowledge of the world, did himself honour by 
patronising the young adventurer, whose repulsive person, 
unpolished manners, and squalid garb moved many of the 
petty aristocracy of the neighbourhood to laughter or to dis- 

10 gust. At Lichfield, however, Johnson could find no way 
of earning a livelihood. He became usher of a grammar 
school in Leicestershire ; he resided as a humble companion 
in the house of a country gentleman; but a life of de- 
pendence was insupjjortable to his haughty spirit. He 

15 repaired to Birmingham, and there earned a few guineas 
by literary drudgery. In that town he printed a transla- 
tion, little noticed at the time, and long forgotten, of a 
Latin book about Abyssinia. He then put forth propo- 
sals for publishing by subscription the poems of Politian, 

20 with notes containing a history of modern Latin verse: 
but subscriptions did not come in; and the volume never 
appeared. 

V 7. While leading this vagrant and miserable life, John- 
son fell in love. The object of his passion was Mrs. Eliza- 

25 beth Porter, a widow who had children as old as himself. 
To ordinary spectators, the lady appeared to be a short, 
fat, coarse woman, painted half an inch thick, dressed in 
gaudy colours, and fond of exhibiting provincial airs and 
graces which were not exactly those of the Queensberrys 

30 and Lepels. To Johnson, however, whose passions were 
strong, whose eyesight was too weak to distinguish ceruse 
from natural bloom, and who had seldom or never been in 
the same room with a woman of real fashion, his Titty, as 
he called her, was the most beautiful, graceful, and accom- 

35 plished of her sex. Tluit his admiration was unfeigned 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 7 

cannot be doubted ; for she was as poor as himself. She 
accejited, with a readiness which did her little honour, the 
addresses of a suitor who might have been her son. The 
marriage, however, in spite of occasional wranglings, 
proved happier than might have been expected. The 5 
lover continued to be under the illusions of the wedding- 
day till the lady died in her. sixty-fourth year. On her 
monument he placed an inscription extolling the charms 
of her person and of her manners; and when, long after 
her decease, he had occasion to mention her, he exclaimed, 10 
with a tenderness half ludicrous, half pathetic, " Pretty 
creature! " 

8. His marriage made it necessary for him to exert him- 
self more strenuously than he had hitherto done. He took 

a house in the neighbourhood of his native town, and ad- 15 
vertised for pupils. But eighteen months passed away; 
and only three pupils came to his academy. Indeed, his 
appearance was so strange, and his temper so violent, that 
his schoolroom must have resembled an ogre's den. Nor 
was the tawdry painted grandmother whom he called his 20 
Titty well qualified to make provision for the comfort of 
young gentlemen. David Garrick, who was one of the 
pupils, used, many years later, to throw the best company 
of London into convulsions of laughter by mimicking the 
endearments of this extraordinary pair. 35 

9. At length Johnson, in the twenty-eighth year of his 
age, determined to seek his fortune in the capital as a 
literary adventurer. He set out with a few guineas, three 
acts of the tragedy of " Irene " in manuscript, and two or 
three letters of introduction from his friend Walmesley. 30 

10. Never, since literature became a calling in England, 
had it been a less gainful calling than at the time when 
Johnson took up his residence in London. In the preced- 
ing generation a writer of eminent merit was sure to be 
munificently rewarded by the government. The least that 35 



8 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

he could expect was a pension or a sinecure place; aiid, if 
he showed any ajititude for politics, he might hope to be a 
member of parliament, a lord of the treasury, an ambas- 
sador, a secretary of state. It would be easy, on the other 
5 hand, to name several writers of the nineteenth century 
of whom the least successful has received forty thousand 
pounds from the booksellers. But Johnson entered on his 
vocation in the most dreary part of the dreary interval 
which separated two ages of prosperity. Literature had 

10 ceased to flourish under tlie patronage of the great, and 
had not begun to flourish under the patronage of the pub- 
lic. One man of letters, indeed. Pope, had acquired by his 
pen what was then considered as a handsome fortune, and 
lived on a footing of equality with nobles and ministers of 

15 state. But this was a solitary exception. Even an author 
whose reputation was established, and whose works were 
popular, such an author as Thomson, whose "Seasons" 
were in every library, such an author as Fielding, whose 
" Pasquin " had had a greater run than any drama since 

20 "The Beggar's Opera," was sometimes glad to obtain, by 
pawning his best coat, the means of diuing on tripe at a 
cookshop underground, where he could wipe his hands, 
after his greasy meal, on the back of a Xewfoundland dog. 
It is easy, therefore, to imagine what humiliations and pri- 

25 vations must have awaited the novice who had still to earn 
a name. One of the publishers to whom Johnson ap- 
plied for employment measured with a scornful eye that 
athletic though uncouth frame, and exclaimed, "You had 
better get a porter's knot, and carry trunks." Nor was 

30 the advice bad; for a porter was likely to be as plentifully 
fed, and as comfortably lodged, as a poet. 

11. Some time appears to have elapsed before Johnson was 
able to form any literary connection from which he could 
expect more than bread for the day which was passing over 

35 him. He never forgot the generosity with which Hervey, 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 9 

who was now residing in London, relieved liis wants during 
this time of trial. " Harry Hervey," said the old ^^hiloso- 
pher many years later, ' ' was a vicious man ; but he was 
very kind to me. If you call a dog Hervey I shall love 
him." At Hervey's table Johnson sometimes enjoyed 5 
feasts which were made more agreeable by contrast. But 
in general he dined, and thought that he dined well, on 
sixpenny worth of meat, and a pennyworth of bread, at an 
alehouse near Drury Lane. 

12. The effect of the privations and sufferings which 10 
he endured at this time was discernible to the last in his 
temper and his deportment. His manners had never been 
courtly. They now became almost savage. Being fre- 
quently under the necessity of wearing shabby coats and 
dirty shirts, he became a confirmed sloven. Being often 15 
very hungry when he sat down to his meals, he contracted 
a habit of eating with ravenous greediness. Even to the 
end of his life, and even at the tables of the great, the 
sight of food affected him as it affects wild beasts and 
birds of prey. His taste in cookery, formed in subter- 30 
ranean ordinaries and alamode beefshops, was far from 
delicate. Whenever he was so fortunate as to have near 
him a hare that had been kept too long, or a meat pie 
made with rancid butter, he gorged himself with such 
violence that his veins swelled, and the moisture broke 35 
out on his forehead. The affronts which his poverty em- 
boldened stupid and low-minded men) to offer to him 
would have broken a mean spirit into', sycophancy, but 
made him rude even to ferocity. Unhappily the insolence 
which, while it was defensive, was pardonable, and in 30 
some sense respectable, accompanied him into societies 
where he was treated with courtesy and kindness. He 
was repeatedly provoked into striking those who had taken 
liberties with him. All the sufferers, however, were wise 
enough to abstain from talking about their beatings, ex- 35 



10 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

cept Osborne, the most rapacious and brutal of booksellers, 
who proclaimed everywhere that he had been knocked 
down by the huge fellow whom he had hired to pufE the 
Harleian Library. 
5 ->^13. About a year after Johnson had begun to reside in 
London, he was fortunate enough to obtain regular em- 
ployment from Cave, an enterprising and intelligent book- 
seller, who was proprietor and editor of the Gentleman'' s 
Magazine. Tbat journal, just entering on the ninth year 

10 of its long existence, was the only periodical work in the 
kingdom which then had what would now be called a 
large circulation. It Avas, indeed, the chief source of par- 
liamentary intelligence. It was not then safe, even during 
a recess, to publish an account of the proceedings of either 

■J5 House without some disguise. Cave, however, ventured 
to entertain his readers with what he called "Reports of 
the Debates of the Senate of Lilliput." France was Ble- 
fuscu; London was Mildendo: pounds were sprugs: the 
Duke of Newcastle was the Nardac secretary of State: 

20 Lord Hardwicke was the Ilurgo Hickrad: and William 
Pulteney was Wingul Puluub. To write the speeches was, 
during several years, the business of Johnson. He was 
generally furnished Avith notes, meagre indeed, and inac- 
curate, of what had been said; but sometimes he had to 

25 find arguments and eloquence both for the ministry and for 
the opposition. He was himself a Tory, not from rational 
conviction — for his serious opinion was that one form of 
government was just as good or as bad as another — but 
from mere passion, such as inflamed the Capulets against 

30 the Montagues, or the Blues of the Roman circus against 
the Greens. In his infancy he had heard so much talk 
about the villanies of the Whigs, and the dangers of the 
Church, that he had become a furious partisan when he 
could scarcely speak. Before he was three he had insisted 

35 on being taken to hear Sacheverell preach at Lichfield 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 11 

Cathedral, and had listened to the sermon with as much 
respect, and probably with as much intelligence, as any 
Staffordshire squire in the congregation. The work which 
had been begun in the nursery had been completed by the 
university. Oxford, when Johnson resided there, was the 5 
most Jacobitical place in England; and Pembroke was one 
of the most Jacobitical colleges in Oxford. The preju- 
dices which he brought up to London were scarcely less 
absurd than those of his own Tom Tempest. Charles 
II. and James II. were two of the best kings that ever 10 
reigned. Laud, a poor creature who never did, said, or 
wrote anything indicating more than the ordinary capacity 
of an old woman, was a prodigy of parts and learning over 
whose tomb Art and Genius still continued to weep. 
Hampden deserved no more honourable name than that of 15 
*'the zealot of rebellion." Even the ship money, con- 
_demned not less decidedly by Falkland and Clarendon 
than by the bitterest Roundheads, Johnson would not pro- 
nounce to have been an unconstitutional impost. Under 
a government, the mildest that had ever been known in 20 
the world — under a government, which allowed to the 
people an unprecedented liberty of speech and action — he 
fancied that he was a slave; he assailed the ministry Avith 
obloquy which refuted itself, and regretted the lost free- 
dom and happiness of those golden days in which a writer 35 
who had taken but one-tenth part of the license allowed 
to him would have been pilloried, mangled with the shears, 
whipped at the cart's tail, and flung into a noisome dun- 
geon to die. He hated dissenters and stockjobbers, the 
excise and the army, septennial parliaments, and continen- 30 
tal connections. He long had an aversion to the Scotch, 
an aversion of which he could not remember the com- 
mencement, but which, he owned, had probably originated 
in his abhorrence of the conduct of the nation during the 
Great Rebellion. It is easy to guess in what manner debates 35 



12 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHITSON 

on great party questions were likely to be reported by a man 
whose judgment was so much disordered by party spirit. 
A show of fairness was indeed necessary to the prosperity 
of the Magazine. But Johnson long afterwards owned 
5 that, though he had saved aj^pearances, he had taken care 
that the "Whig dogs should not have the best of it; and, in 
fact, every passage which has lived, every passage which 
bears the marks of his higher faculties, is put into the 
mouth of some member of the opposition. 

10->'14. A few weeks after Johnson had entered on these 
obscure labours, he published a work which at once jilaced 
him high among the Avriters of his age. It is probable 
that what he had suffered during his first year in London 
had often reminded him of some parts of that noble poem 

15 in which Juvenal had described the misery and degrada- 
tion of a needy man of letters, lodged among the pigeons' 
nests in the tottering garrets which overhung the streets of 
Eome. Pope's admirable imitations of Horace's " Satires " 
and " Epistles " had recently appeared, were in every hand, 

20 and were by many readers thought superior to the originals. 
What Pope had done for Horace, Johnson aspired to do 
for Juvenal. The enterprise was bold and yet judicious. 
For between Johnson and Juvenal there was much in com- 
mon, much more certainly than between Pope and Horace. 

25 15. Johnson's "London" appeared without his name 
in May, 1738. He received only ten guineas for this 
stately and vigorous poem; but the sale was rapid, and the 
success complete. A second edition was required within 
a week. Those small critics who are always desirous to 

30 lower established reputations ran about jn'oclaiming that 
the anonymous satirist was superior to Pope in Pope's own 
peculiar department of literature. It ought to be remem- 
bered, to the honour of Pope, that he joined heartily in the 
applause with which the appearance of a rival genius was 

35 welcomed. He made inquiries about the author of " Lon- 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 13 

don." Such a man, he said, could not long be concealed. 
The name was soon discovered; and Pope, with great 
kindness, exerted himself to obtain an academical degree 
and the mastership of a grammar school for the poor 
young poet. The attempt failed ; and Johnson remained 5 
a bookseller's hack. 

16. It does not appear that these two men, the most 
eminent writer of the generation which was going out, 
and the most eminent writer of the generation which was 
coming in, ever saw eacli other. They lived in very lo 
different circles, one surrounded by dukes and earls, the 
other by starving pamphleteers and index makers. Among 
Johnson's associates at this time may be mentioned Boyse, 
who, when his shirts were pledged, scrawled Latin verses 
sitting up in bed with his arms through two holes in his 15 
blanket; who composed very respectable sacred poetry 
when he was sober; and who was at last run over by a 
hackney coach when he was drunk : Hoole, surnamed the 
metaphysical tailor, who, instead of attending to his mea- 
sures, used to trace geometrical diagrams on the board 20 
where he sate cross-legged; and the penitent impostor, 
George Psalmanazar, who, after poring all day, in a hum- 
ble lodging, on the folios of Jewish rabbis and Christian 
fathers, indulged himself at night with literary and theo- 
logical conversation at an alehouse in the city. But the 25 
most remarkable of the persons with whom at this time 
Johnson consorted was Richard Savage, an earl's son, a 
shoemaker's apprentice, who had seen life in all its forms, 
.who had feasted among blue ribands in Saint James's 
Square, and had lain with fifty pounds' weight of iron on 30 
his legs in the condemned ward of Newgate. This man 
had, after many vicissitudes of fortune, sunk at last into 
abject and hopeless poverty. His pen had failed him. 
His patrons had been taken away by death, or estranged 
by the riotous profusion with whicli he squandered their 35 



14 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

bounty, and the ungrateful insolence with which he re- 
jected their advice. He now lived hj, begging. He dined 
on venison and cliampagne whenever he had been so fortu- 
nate as to borrow a guinea. If his questing had been 
5 unsuccessful, he api:)eased the rage of hunger with some 
scraps of broken meat, and lay down to rest under the 
Piazza of Covent Garden in warm weather, and, in cold 
weather, as near as he could get to tlie furnace of a glass 
house. Yet, in his misery, he was still an agreeable com- 

10 panion. He had an inexhaustible store of anecdotes about 
that gay and brilliant world from which he was now an 
outcast. He had observed the great men of both parties 
in hours of careless relaxation, had seen the leaders of 
opposition without the mask of patriotism, and had heard 

15 the prime minister roar with laughter and tell stories not 
over decent. During some months Savage lived in the 
closest familiarity with Johnson; and then the friends 
parted, not without tears, Johnson remained in London 
to drudge for Cave. Savage went to the West of England, 

20 lived there as he had lived everywhere, and, in 1743, died, 
penniless and heart-broken, in Bristol gaol. 

'IT. Soon after his death, while the public curiosity was 
strongly excited about his extraordinary character, and his 
not less extraordinary adventures, a life of him appeared 

25 widely different from the catchpenny lives of eminent men 
which were then a staple article of manufacture in Grub 
Street. The style was indeed deficient in ease and variety ; 
and the writer was evidently too partial to the Latin ele- 
ment of our language. But the little work, with all its 

30 faults, was a masterpiece. No finer sj^ecimen of literary 
biography existed in any language, living or dead; and a 
discerning critic might have confidently predicted that 
the author was destined to be the founder of a new school 
of English eloquence. 

85 18. The life of Savage was anonymous; but it was well 



LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 15 

known in literary circles that Johnson was the writer. 
During the three years which followed, he produced no 
important work; but he was not, and indeed could not be, 
idle. The fame of his abilities and learning continued to 
grow. Warburton pronounced him a man of parts and 5 
genius; and the praise of Warburton was then no light 
thing. Such was Johnson's rei^utation that, in 1 747, sev- 
eral eminent booksellers combined to employ him in the 
arduous work of preparing a Dictionary of the English 
language, in two folio volumes. The sum which they lO 
agreed to pay him was only fifteen hundred guineas; and 
out of this sum he had to pay several poor men of letters 
who assisted him in the humbler parts of his task. 

19. The prospectus of the '' Dictionary " he addressed to 
the Earl of Chesterfield. Chesterfield had long been cele- 15 
brated for the politeness of his manners, the brilliancy of 
his wit, and the delicacy of his taste. He was acknow- 
ledged to be the finest speaker in the House of Lords. He. 
had recently governed Ireland, at a momentous conjunc- 
ture, with eminent firmness, wisdom, and humanity; and 20 
he had sitice become Secretary of State. He received 
Johnson's homage with the most winning affability, and 
requited it with a few guineas, bestowed doubtless in a very 
graceful manner, but was by no means desirous to see all 
his carpets blackened with the London mud, and his soups 25 
and wines thrown to right and left over the gowns of fine 
ladies and the waistcoats of fine gentlemen, by an absent, 
awkward scholar, who gave strange starts and uttered 
strange growls, who dressed like a scarecrow, and ate like 

a cormorant. During some time Johnson continued to 30 
call on his patron, but after being repeatedly told by the 
porter that his lordship was not at home, took the hint, 
and ceased to present himself at the inhospitable door. 

20. Johnson had flattered himself tliat he should have 
completed his "Dictionary" by the end of 1750; but it 35 



16 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

was not till 1755 that he at length gave his huge volumes 
to the world. During the seven years which he passed in 
the drudgery of penning definitions and marking quota- 
tions for transcription, he sought for relaxation in literary 
5 labour of a more agreeable kind. In 1749 he published 
the " Vanity of Pluman Wishes," an excellent imitation 
of the Tenth Satire of Juvenal. It is in truth not 
easy t' pay whether the palm belongs to the ancient or to 
the modern poet. The couplets in which the fall of Wol- 

10 sey is described, though lofty and sonorous, are feeble 
when compared with tlie wonderful lines which bring 
before us all Rome in tumult on the day of the fall of 
Sejanus, the laurels on the doorposts, the white bull stalk- 
ing towards the Capitol, the statues rolling down from 

15 their pedestals, the flatterers of the disgraced minister 
running to see him dragged with a hook through the 
streets, and to have a kick at his carcase before it is hurled 
into the Tiber. It must be owned, too, that in the con- 
cluding passage the Christian moralist has not made the 

20 most of his advantages, and has fallen decidedly short of 
the sublimity of his Pagan model. On the other hand, 
Juvenal's ,'Hannibal^-taust yield to Johnson's Charles ; 
and Johnson's vigorous and pathetic enumeration of the 
miseries of a literary life must be allowed to be superior 

25 to Juvenal's lamentation over the fate of Demosthenes 
and Cicero. 

31. For the copyright of the "Vanity of Human 
Wishes" Johnson received only fifteen guineas. 
"-32 . A few days after the publication of this poem, his 

SO tragedy, begun many years before, was brouglit on the 
stage. His pupil, David Garrick, had, in 1741, made his 
appearance on a humble stage in Goodman's Fields, had at 
once risen to the first place among, actors, and was now, 
after several years of almost uninterrupted success, man- 

35 ager of Drury Lane Theatre. The relation between him 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 17 

and his old preceptor was of a very singular kind. They 
repelled each other strongly, and yet attracted each other 
strongly. Nature had made them of very different clay; 
and circumstances had fully brought out the natural pecu- 
liarities of both. Sudden prosperity had turned Garrick's 5 
head. Continued adversity had soured Johnson's temper. 
Johnson saw with more envy than became so great a man 
the villa, the plate, the china, the Brussels carjw.*' which 
the little mimic had got by repeating, with grimaces and 
gesticulations, what wiser men had written; and the ex- 10 
quisitely sensitive vanity of Garrick was galled by the 
thought that, while all the rest of the world was apjilaud- 
ing him, he could obtain from one morose cynic, whose 
opinion it was impossible to desjjise, scarcely any compli- 
ment not acidulated with scorn. Yet the two Lichfield 15 
men had so many early recollections in common, and sym- 
pathised with each other on so many points on which they 
sympathised with nobody else in the vast population of 
the capital, that, though the master was often provoked by 
the monkey-like impertinence of the pupil, and the pupil 20 
by the bearish rudeness of the master, they remained 
friends till they were parted by death. Garrick now 
brought ''Irene" out, with alterations sufficient to dis- 
please the author, yet not sufficient to make tlie piece 
pleasing to the audience. The public, however, listened 35 
with little emotion, but with much civility, to five acts of 
monotonous declamation. After nine representations the 
play was withdrawn. It is, indeed, altogether unsuited to 
the stage, and, even when i^erused in the closet, will be 
found hardly worthy of the author. He had not the 30 
slightest notion of what blank verse should be. A change 
in the last syllable of every other line would make the ver- 
sification of the ''Vanity of Human Wishes" closely re- 
semble the versification of ''Irene." The poet, howevex', 
cleared, by his benefit nights, and by the sale of the copy- 35 
2 



18 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

right of his tragedy, about three hundred pounds, then a 
great sum in his estimation. 

23. About a year after the representation of "Irene," 
he began to publish a series of short essays on morals, 
5 manners, and literature. This species of composition had 
been brought into fashion by the success of the Tatler, 
and by the still more brilliant success of the Spectator. 
A crowd of small writers had vainly attempted to rival 
Addison, The Lay Monastery, the Censor, the Free- 

10 thinker, the Plain Dealer, the Champion, and other works 
of the same kind, had had their short day. None of them 
had obtained a permanent place in our literature; and they 
are now to be found puly in the libraries of the curious. 
At length Johnson undertook the adventure in which so 

15 many aspirants had failed. In the thirty-sixth year after 
the appearance of the last number of the Spectator, ap- 
peared the first number of the Rambler. From March 
1750 to March 1752, this paper continued to come out 
every Tuesday and Saturday. 

20 -24. From the first the Rambler was enthusiastically ad- 
mired by a few eminent men. Richardson, when only five 
numbers had appeared, pronounced it equal, if not superior, , 
to the Spectator. Young and Hartley expressed their 
approbation not less warmly. Bubb Doddington, among 

25 whose many faults indifference to the claims of genius 
and learning cannot be reckoned, solicited the acquaintance 
of the writer. In consequence probably of the good offices 
of Doddington, who was then the confidential adviser of 
Prince Frederic, two of His Royal Highness's gentlemen 

30 carried a gracious message to the printing office, and or- 
dered seven copies for Leicester House. But these over- 
tures seem to have been very coldly received. Johnson 
had had enough of the patronage of the great to last him 
all his life, and was not disposed to haunt any other door 

35 as he had haunted the door of Chesterfield. 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 19 

'^5. By the public the Rambler was at first very coklly 
received. Though the price of a number was only two- 
pence, the sale did not amount to five hundred. The 
profits were therefore very small. But as soon as the 
flying leaves were collected and reprinted, they became 5 
popular. The author lived to see thirteen thousand 
copies spread over England alone. Separate editions were 
published for the Scotch and Irish markets. A large party 
pronounced the style perfect, so absolutely perfect that in 
some essays it would be impossible for the writer himself 10 
to alter a single word for the better. Another party, not 
less numerous, vehemently accused him of having cor- 
rupted the purity of the English tongue. The best critics 
admitted that his diction was too monotonous, too obvi- 
ously artificial, and now and then tivrgid even to absurd- 15 
ity. But they did justice to the acuteness of his observa- 
tions on morals and manners, to the constant precision and 
frequent brilliancy of his language, to the weighty and 
magnificent eloquence of many serious passages, and to the 
solemn yet pleasing humour of some of the lighter papers. 20 
On the question of precedence between Addison and 
Johnson, a question which, seventy years ago, was much 
disputed, posterity has pronounced a decision from which 
there is no appeal. Sir Roger, his chaplain and his butler^ 
Will Wimble and AVill Honeycomb, the Vision of Mirza, 25 
the Journal of the Retired Citizen, the Everlasting Club, 
the Dunmow Flitch, the Loves of Hilpah and Shalum, the 
Visit to the Exchange, and the Visit to the Abbey, are 
known to everybody. But many men and women, even of 
highly cultivated minds, are unacquainted with Squire 30 
Bluster and Mrs. Busy, Quisquilius and Venustulus, the 
Allegory of Wit and Learning, the Chronicle of the Revo- 
lutions of a Garret, and the sad fate of Aningait and AJut. 
26. The last Rambler was written in a sad and gloomy 
hour. Mrs. Johnson had been given over by the physi- 35 



20 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

cians. Three days later she died. She left her husband 
almost broken-hearted. Many people had been surprised 
to see a man of his genius and learning stooping to every 
drudgery, and denying himself almost every comfort, for 

5 the purpose of supplying a silly, affected old woman with 
superfluities, which she accepted with but little gratitude. 
But all his affection had been concentrated on her. He 
had neither brother nor sister, neither son nor daughter. 
To him she was beautiful as the (r unnin gs^ and witty as 

10 Lady3Iary. Her opinion of his writings was more im- 
portant to him than the voice of the pit of Drury Lane 
Theatre or the judgment of the Monthhj Beview. The 
chief support which had sustained him through the most 
arduous labour of his life was the hope that she would enjoy 

15 the fame and the profit which he anticipated from his 
" Dictionary." She was gone; and in that vast labyrinth 
of streets, peopled by eight hundred thousand human be- 
ings, he Vas alone. Yet it was necessary for him to set 
himself, as he expressed it, doggedly to work. After three 

20 more laborious years, the "Dictionary" was at length 
complete. 

27. It had been generally supposed that this great work 
would be dedicated to the eloquent and accomplished 
nobleman to whom the prospectus had been addressed. 

25 He well knew the value of such a compliment; and there- 
fore, when the day of publication drew near, he exerted 
himself to soothe, by a show of zealous and at the same 
time of delicate and judicious kindness, the pride which 
he had so cruelly wounded. Since the Ramblers had 

30 ceased to appear, the town had been entertained by a jour- 
nal called the World, to which many men of high rank 
and fashion contributed. In two successive numbers of 
the World the " Dictionary " was, to use the modern 
phrase, puffed with wonderful skill. The writings of 

35 Johnson were warmly praised. It was proposed that he 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 21 

should be invested with the authority of a Dictator, nay, 
of a Pope, over our language, and that his decisions about 
the meaning and the spelling of words should be received 
as final. His two folios, it was said, would of course be 
bought by everybody who could afford to buy them. It 5 
was soon known that these papers were written by Chester- 
field. But the just resentment of Johnson was not to 
be so appeased. In a letter written with singular energy 
and dignity of thought and language, he repelled the tardy 
advances of his patron. The "Dictionary" came forth 10 
without a dedication. In the preface the author truly de- 
clared that he owed nothing to the great, and described the 
difficulties with which he had been left to struggle so forci- 
bly and pathetically that the ablest and most malevolent 
of all the enemies of his fame, Home Tooke, never could 15 
read that passage without tears. 

—38. The public, on this occasion, did Johnson full jus- 
tice, and something more than justice. The best lexicogra- 
pher may well be content if his productions are received 
by the world with cold esteem. But Johnson's " Diction- 20 
ary " was hailed with an enthusiasm such as no similar 
work has ever excited. It was indeed the first dictionary 
which could be read with pleasure. The definitions show 
so much acuteness of thought and command of language, 
and the passages quoted from poets, divines, and philoso- 25 
phers are so skilfully selected, that a leisure hour may 
always be very agreeably spent' in turning over the pages. 
The faults of the book resolve themselves, for the most 
part, into one great fault. Johnson was a wretched ety- 
mologist. Pie knew little or nothing of any Teutonic 30 
language except English, which indeed, as he wrote It, 
was scarcely a Teutonic language; and thus he was abso- 
lutely at the mercy of Junius and Skinner. 

29. The "Dictionary," though it raised Johnson's 
fame, added nothing to his pecuniary means. The fifteen 35 



22 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

hundred guineas which the hooksellers had agreed to 'pay 
him had been advanced and spent before the last sheets 
issued from the press. It is painful to relate that, twice 
in the course of the year which followed the publication 
5 of this great work, he was arrested and carried to spung- 
ing-houses, and that he was twice indebted for his liberty 
to his excellent friend Richardson. It was still necessary for 
the man who had been formally saluted by the highest au- 
thority as Dictator of the English language to supply his 

10 wants by constant toil. He abridged his "Dictionary." 
He proposed to bring out an edition of Shakspeare by 
subscription; and many subscribers sent in their names 
and laid down their money; but he soon found the task 
so little to his taste that he turned to more attractive em- 

15 ployments. He contributed many papers to a new monthly 
journal, which was called the Literary Magazine. Few of 
these papers have much interest; but among them was the 
very best thing that he ever wrote, a masterpiece both of 
reasoning and of satirical pleasantry, the review of Jenyns's 

20 " Inquiry into the Nature and Origin of Evil." 

30. In the spring of 1758 Johnson put forth the first of a 
series of essays, entitled the Idler. During two years these 
essays continued to appear weekly. They were eagerly 
read, widely circulated, and, indeed, impudently pirated, 

25 while they were still in the original form, and had a large 
sale when collected into volumes. The Idler may be de- 
scribed as a second part of the Rambler, somewhat livelier 
and somewhat weaker than the first part. 

31. While Johnson was busy with his Idlers, his mother, 
30 who had accomplished her ninetieth year, died at Lich- 
field. It was long since he had seen her; but he had not 
failed to contribute largely, out of his small means, to her 
comfort. In order to defray the charges of her funeral, 
and to pay some debts which she had left, he wrote a little 

85 book in a single week, and sent off the sheets to the press 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 23 

withoiit reading them over. A hundred pounds were 
paid him for the copyright; and the purchasers had great 
cause to be pleased with their bargain; for the book was 
" Easselas." 

32. The success of "Easselas" was great, though such 5 
ladies as Miss Lydia Languish must have been grievously 
disappointed when they found that the new volume from 
the circulating library was little more than a dissertation 
on the author's favourite theme, the " Vanity of Human 
Wishes "; that the Prince of Abyssinia was without a mis- 10 
tress, and the princess without a lover; and that the story 
set the hero and the heroine down exactly where it had 
taken them up. The style was the subject of much eager 
controversy. The Montlily Revieiu and the Critical Review 
took different sides. Many readers pronounced the writer 15 
a pompous pedant, who would never use a word of two 
syllables where it was possible to use a word of six, and 
who could not make a waiting woman relate her adven- 
tures without balancing every noun with another noun, 
and every epithet with another epithet. Another party, 20 
not less zealous, cited with delight numerous passages in 
which weighty meaning was expressed with accuracy and 
illustrated with splendour. And both the censure and the 
praise were merited. 

83. About the plan of " Easselas " little was said by the 25 
critics; and yet the faults of the plan might seem to 
invite severe criticism. Johnson has frequently blamed 
Shakspeare for neglecting the proprieties of time and 
place, and for ascribing to one age or nation the manners 
and opinions of another. Yet Shakspeare has not sinned 30 
in this way more grievously than Johnson. Easselas and 
Imlac, Nekayah and Pekuah, are evidently meant to be 
Abyssinians of the eighteenth century: for the Europe 
which Imlac describes is the Europe of the eighteenth cen- 
tury; and the inmates of the Happy Valley talk familiarly 35 



24; . LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 

' qf that law of gravitation which Newton discovered, and 
which was not fully received even at Cambridge till the 
eighteenth century. What a real company of Abyssiniaus 
would have been may be learned from Bruce's " Travels." 
5 But Johnson, not content with turning filthy savages, 
ignorant of their letters, and gorged with raw steaks cut 
from living cows, into philosophers as eloquent and en- 
lightened as himself or his friend Burke, and into ladies 
as highly accomplished as Mrs. Lennox or Mrs. Sheridan, 

10 transferred the Avliole domestic system of England to 
Egypt. Into a land of harems, a land of polygamy, a 
land where women are married without ever being seen, he 
introduced the flirtations and jealousies of our ball-rooms. 
In a land where there is boundless liberty of divorce, wedlock 

15 is described as the indissoluble compact. "A youtli and 
maiden meeting by chance, or brought together by artifice, 
exchange glances, reciprocate civilities, go home, and 
dream of each other. Such," says Easselas, "is the com- 
mon jirocess of marriage." Such it may have been, and 

20 may still be, in London, but assuredly not at Cairo. A 
writer who was gviilty of such improprieties had little right 
to blame the poet who made Hector quote Aristotle, and 
represented Julio Eomano as flourishing in the days of 
the oracle of Delphi. 

25 34. By such exertions as have been described, Johnson 
supported himself till the year 1762. In that year a great 
change in his circumstances took place. He had from a 
child been an enemy of the reigning dynasty. His Jacobite 
prejudices had been exhibited with little disguise both in 

30 his works and in his conversation. Even in his massy and 
elaborate "Dictionary," he had, with a strange want of 
taste and judgment, inserted bitter and contumelious re- 
flections on the Whig party. The excise, which was a 
favourite resource of Whig financiers, he had designated as 

35 a hateful tax. He had railed against the commissioners 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 25 

of excise in language so coarse that they had seriously 
thought of prosecuting him. He had with difficulty 
been prevented from holding up the Lord Privy Seal by 
name as an example of the meaning of the word " rene- 
gade." A pension he had defined as pay given to a state 5 
hireling to betray his country; a pensioner as a slave of 
state liired by a stipend to obey a master. It seemed un- 
likely that the author of these definitions would himself 
be pensioned. But that was a time of wonders. George 
the Third had ascended the throne; and had, in the course 10 
of a few montlis, disgusted many of the old friends and 
conciliated many of the old enemies of his house. The 
city was becoming mutinous. Oxford was becoming loyal. 
Cavendishes and Bentincks were murmuring. Somersets 
and Wyndhams were hastening to kiss hands. The head 15 
of the treasury was now Lord Bute, who was a Tory, and 
could have no objection to Johnson's Toryism. Bute 
wished to be thought a patron of men of letters; and 
Johnson was one of the most eminent and one of the 
most needy men of letters in Europe. A pension of three 30 
hundred a year was graciously offered, and with very little 
hesitation accepted. 

35. This event produced a change in Johnson's whole 
way of life. For the first time since his boyhood he no 
longer felt the daily goad urging him to the daily toil. He 25 
was at liberty, after thirty years of anxiety and drudgery, 

to indulge his constitutional indolence, to lie in bed till 
two in the afternoon, and to sit up talking till four in the 
morning, without fearing either the printer's devil or the 
BherifE's officer. 30 

36. One laborious task indeed he had bound himself 
to perform. He had received large subscriptions for his 
promised edition of Shakspeare; he had lived on those 
Bubscriptions during some years: and he could not without 
disgrace omit to perform his part of the contract. His 35 



26 TAFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

friends repeatedly exhorted him to make an effort; and he 
repeatedly resolved to do so. But, notwithstanding their 
exhortations and his resolutions, month followed month, 
year followed year, and nothing was done. He prayed 
5 fervently against his idleness; he determined, as often as 
he received the sacrament, that he would no longer doze 
away and trifle away his time ; but the spell under which he 
lay resisted prayer and sacrament. His private notes at this 
time are made up of self-reproaches. " My indolence," he 

10 wrote on Easter Eve in 1764, '"has sunk into grosser slug- 
gishness. A kind of strange oblivion has overspread me, 
so that I know not what has become of the last year," 
Easter, 1765, came, and found him still in the same state. 
" My time," he wrote, " has been unprofitably spent, and 

15 seems as a dream that has left nothing behind. My mem- 
ory grows confused, and I know not how the days pass 
over me." Hapjoily for his honour, the charm which held 
him captive was at length broken by no gentle or friendly 
hand. He had been weak enough to pay serious attention 

30 to a story about a ghost which haunted a house in Cock 
Lane, and had actually gone himself with some of hift 
friends, at one in the morning, to St. John's Church, 
Clerkenwell, in the hope of receiving a communication 
from the perturbed spirit. But the spirit, though adjured 

25 Avith all solemnitj', remained obstinately silent; and it 
soon appeared that a naughty girl of eleven had been 
amusing herself by making fools of so many philosophers. 
Churchill, who, confident in his powers, drunk with popu- 
larity, and burning with party spirit, was looking for some 

30 man of established fame and Tory politics to insult, cele- 
brated the Cock Lane Ghost in three cantos, nicknamed 
Johnson "Pomposo," asked where the book was which 
had been so long promised and so liberally paid for, and 
directly accused the great moralist of cheating. This 

35 terrible Avord proved effectual; and in October, 1765, ap- 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 27 

peared, after a delay of nine years, the new edition of 
Shakspeare. 

37. This publication saved Johnson's character for hon- 
esty, but added nothing to the fame of his abilities and 
learning. The preface, though it contains some good 5 
passages, is not in his best manner. The most valuable 
notes are those in which he had an opportunity of show- 
ing how attentively he had during many years observed 
human life and human nature. The best specimen is the 
note on the character of Polonius. Nothing so good is 10 
to be found even in Wiihelm Meister's admirable examina- 
tion of " Hamlet." But here j)raise must end. It would 
be difficult to name a more slovenly, a more worthless edi- 
tion of any great classic. The reader may turn over play 
after play without finding one happy conjectural emenda- 15 
tion, or one ingenious and satisfactory explanation of a 
passage which had baffled preceding commentators. John- 
son had, in his prospectus, told the world that he was 
peculiarly fitted for the task which he had undertaken, 
because he had, as a lexicographer, been under the neces- 20 
sity of taking a wider view of the English language than 
any of his predecessors. That his knowledge of our liter- 
ature was extensive is indisputable. But, unfortunately, 
he had altogether neglected that very part of our litera- 
ture with which it is especially desirable that an editor of 25 
Shakspeare should be conversant. It is dangerous to assert 
a negative. Yet little will be risked by the assertion, that 
in the two folio volumes of the "English Dictionary" 
there is not a single passage quoted from any dramatist of 
the Elizabethan age, except Shakspeare and Ben. Even 30 
from Ben the quotations are few. Johnson might easily, 
in a few months, have made himself well acquainted with 
every old play that was extant. But it never seems to 
have occurred to him that this was a necessary preparation 
for the work which he had undertaken. He would doubt- 35 



28 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

less have admitted that it woukl be the height of absurdity 
in a man who was not famihar with the works of ^schyhis 
and Euripides to publish an edition of Sophocles. Yet he 
ventured to publish an edition of Shakspeare, v/ithout 
5 having ever in his life, as far as can be discovered, read a 
single scene of Massinger, Ford, Decker, Webster, Mar- 
low, Beaumoyt. or Fletcher. His detractors were noisy 
and scurrilous. » - Those who most loved and honoured him 
had little to say in praise of the manner in which he had 

10 discharged the duty of a commentator. He had, how- 
ever, acquitted himself of a debt which had long lain 
heavy on his conscience; and he sank back into the repose 
from which the sting of satire had roused him. He long 
continued to live upon the fame which he had already won. 

15 He was honoured by the University of Oxford with a Doc- 
tor's degree, by the Eoyal Academy with a professorship, 
and by the King with an interview, in which his Majesty 
most graciously expressed a hope that so excellent a writer 
would not cease to write. In the interval, however, be- 

30 tween 17G5 and 1775^ Johnson published only two or three 
political tracts, the longest of which he could have pro- 
duced in forty-eight hours, if he had worked as he worked 
on the life of Savage and on " Easselas." 

38. But, though his pen was now idle, his tongue was 

25 active. The influence exercised by his conversation, di- 
rectly upon those with whom he lived, and indirectly on 
the whole literary world, was altogether without a par- 
allel. His colloquial talents were indeed of the highest 
order. He had strong sense, quick discernment, wit, 

oO humour, immense knowledge of literature and of life, and 
an infinite store of curious anecdotes. As respected style, 
he spoke far better than he wrote. Every sentence which 
dropped from his lips was as correct in structure as the 
most nicely balanced period of the Rambler. But in his 

35 talk there was no pompous triads, and little more than a 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 29 

fair proportion of words in osity and at ion. All was sim- 
plicity, ease, and vigour. He uttered his shoi't, weighty, 
and pointed sentences with a power of voice, and a just- 
ness and energy of emphasis, of which the etfect was 
rather increased than diminished by the rollings of his 5 
huge form, and by the asthmatic gaspings and j)uflfings in 
which the peals of his eloquence generally ended. Nor 
did the laziness which made him unwilling to sit down to 
his desk prevent him from giving instruction or entertain- 
ment orally. To discuss questions of taste, of learning, l6 
of casuistry, in language so exact and so forcible that it 
might have been printed without the alteration of a word, 
was to him no exertion, but a pleasure. He loved, as he 
said, to fold his legs and have his talk out. He was ready 
to bestow the overflowings of his full mind on anybody 15 
who would start a subject, on a fellow-passenger in a stage 
coach, or on the person who sate at the same table with 
him in an eating-house. But his conversation was no- 
where so brilliant and striking as when he was surrounded 
by a few friends, whose abilities and knowledge enabled 20 
them, as he once expressed it, to send him back every ball 
that he threw. Some of these, in 1704, formed them- 
selves into a club, which gradually became a formidable 
power in the commonwealth of letters. The verdicts 
pronounced by this conclave on new books were speedily 25 
known over all London, and were sufficient to sell off a 
whole edition in a day, or to condemn the sheets to the 
service of the trunk-maker and the pastry-cook. lT55^r 
shall we think this strange when we consider what great 
and various talents and acquirements met in the little 30 
fraternity. Goldsmith was the representative of poetry and 
light literature, Reynolds of tlie arts, Burke of politi- 
cal eloquence and political i)hilosophy. There, too, were 
Gibbon, the greatest historian, and Jones, the greatest 
linguist, of the age. Garrick brought to the meetings his 35 



30 I-IFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

inexhaustible pleasantry, his incomparable mimicry, and 
his consummate knowledge of stage effect. Among the 
most constant attendants were two high-born and high- 
bred gentlemen, closely bound together by friendship, but 
5 of widely different characters and habits; Bennet Langton, 
distinguished by his skill in Greek literature, by the ortho- 
doxy of his opinions, and by the sanctity of his life; and 
Topham Beauclerk, renowned for his amours, his know- 
ledge of the gay world, his fastidious taste, and his sar- 

10 castic wit. To predominate over such a society was not 
easy. Yet even over such a society Johnson predomi- 
nated. Burke might indeed have disputed the supremacy 
to wdiich others were under the necessity of submitting. 
But Burke, though not generally a very patient listener, 

15 was content to take the second part when Johnson was 
present; and the club itself, consisting of so many emi- 
nent men, is to this day popularly designated as Johnson's 
Club. 
39. Among the members of this celebrated body was 

20 one to whom it has owed the greater part of its celebrity, 
yet who was regarded with little respect by his brethren, 
and had not without difficulty obtained a seat among 
them. This was James Boswell, a young Scotch lawyer, 
heir to an honourable name and a fair estate. That he was 

25 a coxcomb and a bore, weak, vain, pushing, curious, gar- 
rulous, was obvious to all who were acquainted with him. 
That he could not reason, that he had no wit, no humour, 
no eloquence, is apparent from his writings. And yet his 
writings are read beyond the Mississij^pi, and under the 

iJO Southern Cross, and are likely to be read as long as the 
English exists, either as a living or as a dead language. 
Nature had made him a slave and an idolater. His mind 
resembled those creepers which the botanists call parasites, 
and Avhich can subsist only by clinging round the stems and 

35 imbibing the juices of stronger plants. He must have 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 31 

fastened himself on somebody. He might have fastened 
himself on Wilkes, and have become the fiercest patriot in 
tlie Bill of Rights Society. He might have fastened himself 
on Whitfield, and have become the loudest field j^reacher 
among the Calvinistic Methodists. In a happy hour he 5 
fastened himself on Johnson. The pair might seem ill 
matched. For Johnson had early been prejudiced against 
Boswell's country. To a man of Johnson's strong under- 
standing and irritable temper, the silly egotism and adula- 
tion of Boswell must have been as teasing as the constant 10 
buzz of a fly. Johnson hated to be questioned; and Boswell 
was eternally catechising him on all kinds of subjects, and 
sometimes propounded such questions as " What would you 
do, sir, if you were locked up in a tower with a baby?" 
-lohnson was a water drinker; and Boswell was a wine- 15 
bibber, and indeed little better than a habitual sot. It 
was impossible that there should be perfect harmony be- 
tween two such companions. Indeed, the great man was 
sometimes provoked into fits of passion in which he said 
things which the small man, during a few hours, serious- 30 
ly resented. Every quarrel, however, was soon made up. 
During twenty years the disciple continued to worship 
the master: the master continued to scold the disciple, to 
sneer at him, and to love him. The two friends ordina- 
rily resided at a great distance from each other. Boswell 25 
practised in the Parliament House of Edinburgh, and 
could pay only occasional visits to London. During those 
visits his chief business was to watch Johnson, to discover 
all Johnson's habits, to turn the conversation to subjects 
about which Johnson was likely to say something remark- 30 
able, and to fill quarto note books with minutes of what 
Johnson had said. In this way were gathered the mate- 
rials out of which was afterwards constructed the most 
interesting biographical work in the world. 

40. Soon after the club began to exist, Johnson formed 35 



33 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

a connection less important indeed to liis fame, bnt much 
more important to his happiness, than his connectioTi with 
Boswell. Henry Thrale, one of tlie most opulent brewers 
in the kingdom, a man of sound and cultivated under- 
5 standing, rigid principles, and liberal sjDirit, was married 
to one of those clever, kind-hearted, engaging, vain, pert 
young women, who are perpetually doing or saying what is 
not exactly right, but who, do or say what they may, are 
always agreeable. In 1765 the Thrales became acquainted 

10 with Johnson; and the acquaintance ripened fast into 
friendship. They "were astonished and delighted by the 
brilliancy of his conversation. They were flattered by find- 
ing that a man so widely celebrated, preferred their house to 
any other in London. Even the peculiarities which seemed 

15 to unfit him for civilised society, his gesticulations, his 
rollings, his puffings, his mutterings, the strange w^ay in 
which he put on his clothes, the ravenous eagerness with 
which he devoured his dinner, his fits of melancholy, his 
fits of anger, his frequent rudeness, his occasional ferocity, 

20 increased the interest which his new associates took in 
him. For these thiiigs were the cruel marks left behind 
by a life which had been one long conflict with disease and 
with adversity. In a vulgar hack writer such oddities would 
have excited only disgust. But in a man of genius, learu- 

25 ing, and virtue their effect was to add pity to admiration 
and esteem. Johnson soon had an apartment at the bi"ew- 
ery in Southwark, and a still more pleasant apartment at 
the villa of his friends on Streatham Common. A large 
part of every year he passed in those abodes, abodes which 

30 must have seemed magnificent and luxurif>ns indeed, when 
compared with the dens in which he had generally been 
lodged. But his chief i)leasures were derived from what 
the astronomer of his Abyssinian tale called " the endear- 
ing elegance of female friendship." JMrs. Tlirale rallied 

35 him, soothed him, coaxed him, and, if she sometimes 



. LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 33 

provoked him by her fli^^pancy, made ample amends by 
listening to his reproofs with angelic sweetness of temper. 
When he was diseased in body and in mind, she was the 
most tender of nurses. No comfort that wealth could 
purchase, no contrivance that womanly ingenuity, set to 5 
work by womanly compassion, could devise, was wanting 
to his sick-room. He requited her kindness by an affec- 
tion pure as the affection of a father, yet delicately tinged 
with a gallantry which, though awkward, must have been 
more flattering than the attentions of a crowd of the fools 10 
who gloried in the names, now obsolete, of Buck and Macca- 
roni. It should seem that a full half of Johnson's life, 
during about sixteen years, was passed under the roof of 
the Thrales. He accompanied the family sometimes to 
Bath, and sometimes to Brighton, once to Wales, and once 15 
to Paris. But he had at the same time a house in one of 
the narrow and gloomy courts on the north of Fleet Street. 
In the garrets was his library, a large and miscellaneous 
collection of books, falling to pieces and begrimed with 
dust. On a lower floor he sometimes, but very rarely, 20 
regaled a friend with a plain dinner, a veal pie, or a leg of 
lamb and spinage, and a rice pudding. Nor was the dwell- 
ing uninhabited during his long absences. It was the 
home of the most extraordinary assemblage of inmates 
that ever was brought together. At the head of the estab- 35 
lishment Johnson had jDlaced an old lady named Williams, 
whose chief recommendations were her blindness and her 
poverty. But, in spite of her murmurs and reproaches, 
he gave an asylum to another lady who was as poor as 
herself, Mrs. Desmoulins, whose family he had known 30 
many years before in Staffordshire. Eoom was found for 
the daughter of Mrs. Desmoulins, and for another desti- 
tute damsel, who was generally addressed as Miss Carmi- 
cliael, but whom her generous host called Polly. An old 
quack doctor named Levett, who bled and dosed coal- 35 
3 



34 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

heavers and hackney coachmen, and received for fees 
crusts of bread, bits of bacon, glasses of gin, and some- 
times a little copper, comi^leted this strange menagerie. 
All these poor creatures were at constant war with each 
5 other, and with Johnson's negro servant Frank. Some- 
times, indeed, they transferred their hostilities from the 
servant to the master, complained that a better table was 
not kept for them, and railed or maundered till their bene- 
factor was glad to make his escape to Streatham, or to 

10 the Mitre Tavern. And yet he, who was generally the 
haughtiest and most irritable of mankind, who was but too 
prompt to resent anything which looked like a slight on 
the part of a purse-proud bookseller, or of a noble and 
powerful patron, bore patiently from mendicants, who, 

15 but for his bounty, must haye gone to the workhouse, 
insults more provoking than those for which he had 
knocked down Osborne and bidden defiance to Chester- 
field. Year after year Mrs. Desmoulins, Polly, and Le- 
vett continued to torment him and to live upon him. 

30 41. The course of life which has been described was 
interrupted in Johnson's sixty-fourth year by an impor- 
tant event. He had early read an account of the Hebri- 
des, and had been much interested by learning that there 
was so near him a land peopled by a race which was still 

35 as rude and simple as in the middle ages. A wish to be- 
come intimately acquainted with a state of society so ut- 
terly unlike all that he had ever seen frequently crossed 
his mind. But it is not probable that his curiosity would 
have overcome his habitual sluggishness, and his love of 

30 the smoke, the mud, and the cries of London, had not 
Boswell importuned him to attempt the adventure, and 
offered to be his squire. At length, in August, 1773, 
Johnson crossed the Highland line, and plunged coura- 
geously into what was then considered, by most Englishmen, 

35 as a dreary and perilous ^\'ilderness. After wandering 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 35 

about two months tlirough tlie Celtic region, sometimes in 
rude boats which did not protect him from the rain, and 
sometimes on small shaggy ponies which could hardly bear 
his weight, he returned to his old haunts with a mind full 
of new images and new theories. During the following 5 
year he employed himself in recording his adventures. 
About the beginning of 1775, his "Journey to the Heb- 
rides" was published, and was, during some weeks, the 
chief subject of conversation in all circles in which any 
attention was paid to literature. The book is still read 10 
with pleasure. The narrative is entertaining; the specu- 
lations, whether sound or unsound, are always ingenious; 
and the style, though too stifE and pompous, is somewhat 
easier and more graceful than that of his early writings. 
His prejudice against the Scotch had at length become 15 
little more than matter of jest; and whatever remained of 
the old feeling had been effectually removed by the kind 
and respectful hospitality with which he had been received 
in every part of Scotland. It was, of course, not to be 
expected that an Oxonian Tory should praise the Presby- 20 
terian polity and ritual, or that an eye accustomed to the 
hedgerows and parks of Englanxl should not be struck by 
the bareness of Berwickshire and East Lothian. But even 
in censure Johnson's tone is not unfriendly. The most 
enlightened Scotchmen, with Lord Mansfield at their 35 
head, were well pleased. But some foolish and ignorant 
Scotchmen were moved to anger by a little unpalatable 
truth which was mingled with much eulogy, and assailecl 
him, whom they chose to consider as the enemy of their 
country, with libels much more dishonourable to their 30 
country than anything that he had ever said or written. 
They published paragraphs in the newspapers, articles in 
the magazines, sixpenny pamphlets, five-shilling books. 
One scribbler abused Johnson for being blear-eyed; an- 
other for being a pensioner; a third informed the world 35 



36 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

that one of the Doctor's uncles had been convicted of 
felony in Scotland, and had found that there was in that 
country one tree capable of supporting the weight of an 
Englishman. Macpherson, whose " Fingal " had been 
5 proved in the "Journey" to be an impudent forgery, 
threatened to take vengeance with a cane. ^ The only effect 
of this threat was that Johnson reiterated the charge of 
forgery in the most contemptuous terms, and walked about, 
during some time, with a cudgel, which, if the impostor 

10 had not been too wise to encounter it, would assuredly 
have descended upon him, to borrow the sublime language 
of his own epic poem, " like a hammer on the red son of 
the furnace." 

42. Of other assailants Johnson took no notice what- 

15 ever. He had early resolved never to be drawn into con- 
troversy; and he adhered to his resolution with a steadfast- 
ness which is the more extraordinary, because he was, both 
intellectually and morally, of the stuff of which contro- 
versialists are made. In conversation, he was a singularly 

20 eager, acute, and. pertinacious disj)utant. When at a loss 
for good reasons, he had recourse to sophistry; and, when 
heated by altercation, he made unsparing use of sarcasm 
and invective. But, when he took his pen in his hand, 
his whole character seemed to be changed. A hundred 

25 bad writers misrepresented him and reviled him; but not 
one of the hundred could boast of having been thought 
by him worthy of a refutation, or even of a retort. The 
Kenricks, Campbells, MacNicols, and Hendersons did 
their best to annoy him, in the hope that he would give 

30 them importance by answering them. But the reader will 
in vain search his works for any allusion to Kenrick or 
Campbell, to MacNicol or Henderson. One Scotchman, 
bent on vindicating the fame of Scotch learning, defied 
him to the combat in a detestable Latin hexameter. 

35 <' Maxime, si tu vis, ciipio contendere tecum." 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 37 

But Johnson took no notice of the challenge. He had 
learned, both from his own observation and from literary 
history, in which he was deeply read, that the place of 
books in the public estimation is fixed, not by what is 
written about them, but by what is written in them ; and 5 
that an author whose works are likely to live is very unwise 
if he stoops to wrangle with detractors whose works are 
certain to die. He always maintained that fame was a 
shuttlecock which could be kept up only by being beaten 
back, as well as beaten forward, and which would soon fall 10 
if there were only one battledore. No saying was oftener 
in his mouth than that fine apophthegm of Bentley, that 
no man was ever written down but by himself. 

43. Unhappily, a few months after the appearance of 
the '^Journey to the Hebrides," Johnson did what none 15 
of his envious assailants could have done, and to a cer- 
tain extent succeeded in writing himself down. The dis- 
putes between England and her American colonies had 
reached a point at which no amicable adjustment was pos- 
sible. Civil war was evidently impending; and the minis- 30 
ters seem to have thought that the eloquence of Johnson 
might with advantage be employed to inflame the nation 
against the opposition here, and against the rebels beyond 
the Atlantic. He had already written two or three tracts 
in defence of the foreign and domestic policy of the gov- 25 
ernment; and those tracts, though hardly worthy of him, 
were much superior to the crowd of pamphlets which lay 
on the counters of Almon and Stockdale. But his " Taxa- 
tion no Tyranny " was a pitiable failure. The very title 
was a silly phrase, which can have been recommended to 30 
his choice by nothing but a jingling alliteration which he 
ought to have despised. The arguments were such as boys 
use in debating societies. The pleasantry was as awkward 
as the gambols of a hippopotamus. Even Boswell was 
forced to own that, in this unfortunate piece, he could de- 35 



38 LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 

tect no trace of his master's powers. The general opinion 
was that the strong faculties which had produced the 
" Dictionary " and the Rambler were beginning to feel the 
effect of time and of disease, and that the old man would 
5 best consult his credit by writing no more. 

44. But this was a great mistake. Johnson had failed, 
not because his mind was less vigorous than when he wrote 
" Rasselas " in the evenings of a week, but because he had 
foolishly chosen, or suffered others to choose for him, a 

10 subject such as he would at no time have been competent 
to treat. He was in no sense a statesman. lie never will- 
ingly read or thought or talked about affairs of state. He 
loved biography, literary history, the history of manners; 
but political history was positively distasteful to him. The 

15 question at issue between the colonies and the mother 
country was a question about which he had really nothing 
to say. He failed, therefore, as the greatest men must fail 
when they attempt to do that for which they are unfit; as 
Burke would have failed if Burke had tried to write come- 

20 dies like those of Sheridan; as Eeynolds would have failed 
if Reynolds had tried to paint landscapes like those of 
Wilson. Happily, Johnson soon had an opjiortunity of 
proving most signally that his failure was not to be ascribed 
to intellectual decay. 

25 45. On Easter Eve, 1777, some persons, dep\ited by a 
meeting which consisted of forty of the first booksellers in 
London, called upon him. Though he had some scruples 
about doing business at that season, he received his visit- 
ors with much civility. They came to inform him that 

30 a new edition of the English poets, from Cowley down- 
wards, was in contemplation, and to ask him to furnish 
short biographical prefaces. He readily undertook the task, 
a task for which he was pre-eminently qualified. His 
knowledge of the literary history of England since the 

35 Restoration was unrivalled. That knowledge he had de- 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 39 

rived partly from l)ooks, and partly from sources which 
had long been closed; from old Grub Street traditions; 
from the talk of forgotten poeta^ers and pamphleteers 
who had long been lying in parish vaults; from the recol- 
lections of such men as Gilbert Walmesley, who had con- 5 
versed with the wits of Button; Gibber, who had mutilated 
the plays of two generations of dramatists; Orrery, who 
had been admitted to the society of Swift; and Savage, 
who had rendered services of no very honourable kind to 
Po}ie. The biographer therefore sate down to his task with 10 
a mind full of matter. He had at first intended to give 
only a paragraph to every minor poet, and only four or 
five pages to the greatest name. But the flood of anecdote 
and criticism overflowed the narrow, channel. The work, 
which was originally meant to consist only of a few sheets, 15 
swelled into ten volumes, small volumes, it is true, and not 
closely printed. The first four appeared in 1779, the re- 
maining six in 1781. 

/-•46. The "Lives of the Poets" are, on the whole, the 
Ibest of Johnson's works. The uari'atives are as entertain- 20 
ing as any novel. The remarks on life and on human 
nature are eminently shrewd and profound. The criti- 
cisms are often excellent, and, even when grossly and 
provokingly unjust, well deserve to be studied. For, how- 
ever erroneous they may be, they are never silly. They 25 
are the judgments of a mind trammelled by prejudice 
and deficient in sensibility, but vigorous and acute. They 
therefore generally contain a portion of valuable truth 
which deserves to be separated from the alloy; and, at the 
very worst, they mean something, a praise to which much 30 
of what is called criticism in our time has no pretensions. \, 
47. Savage's " Life " Johnson reprinted nearly as it had \ 
appeared in 1744. Whoever, after reading that life, will 
turn to the other lives will be struck by the difference of 
style. Since Johnson had been at ease in his circum- 35 



40 LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 

stances he had written little and had talked much. When, 
therefore, he, after the lajDse of years, resumed his pen, 
the mannerism which he had contracted while he was in 
the constant habit of elaborate comjoosition was less per- 
5 ceptible than formerly; and his diction frequently had a 
colloquial ease which it had formerly wanted. The im- 
provement may be discerned by a skilful critic in the 
"Journey to the Hebrides," and in the "Lives of the 
Poets " is so obvious that it cannot escape the notice of the 
10 most careless reader. 

48. Among the lives the best are perhaps those of Cow- 
ley, Dryden, and Pope. The very worst is, beyond all 
doubt, that of Gray. 

49. This great work at once became popular. There 
15 was, indeed, much just and much unjust censure: but 

even those who were loudest in blame were attracted by 
the book in spite of themselves. Maloue computed the 
gains of the publishers at five or six thousand pounds. 
But the writer was very poorly remunerated. Intending 

20 at first to write very short prefaces, he had stipulated for 
only two hundred guineas. The booksellers, when they 
saw how far his performance had surpassed his promise, 
added only another hundred. Indeed, Johnson, though 
he did not despise, or affect to despise, money, and though 

25 his strong sense and long experience ought to have quali- 
fied him to protect his own interests, seems to have been 
singularly unskilful and unlucky in his literary bargains. 
He was generally reputed the first English writer of his 
time. Yet several writers of his time sold their copyrights 

30 for sums such as he never ventured to ask. To give a 
single instance, Robertson received four thousand five liun- 
dred pounds for the "History of Charles V."; and it is 
no disrespect to the memory of Robertson to say that the 
" History of Charles V." is both a less valuable and a less 

35 amusing book than the " Lives of the Poets." 



LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 41 

50, Jolmson was now in his seventy-second yeai The 
infirmities of age were coming fast upon him,. That in- 
evitable event of which he never thought without horror 
was brought near to him; and his whole life was darkened 
by the shadow of death. He had often to pay the cruel 5 
price of longevity. Every year he lost what could never 
be replaced. The strange dependents to whom he had 
given shelter, and to whom, in spite of their faults, he 
was strongly attached by habit, dropped off one by one; 
and, in the silence of his home, he regretted even the 10 
noise of their scolding matches. The kind and generous 
Thrale was no more; and it would have been well if his 
wife had been laid beside him. But she survived to be 
the laughing-stock of those who had envied her, and to 
draw from the eyes of the old man who had loved her be- 15 
yond anything in the world tears far more bitter than he 
would have shed over her grave. With some estimable 
and many agreeable qualities, she was not made to be inde- 
pendent. The control of a mind more steadfast than her 
own was necessary to her respectability. While she was 20 
restrained by her husband, a man of sense and firmness, 
indulgent to her taste in trifles, but always the undisputed 
master of his house, her worst offences had been imperti- 
nent jokes, white lies, and short fits of pettishness ending 
in sunny good humour. But he was gone; and she was 25 
left an opulent widow of forty, with strong sensibility, i^^ 

volatile fancy, and slender judgment. She soon fell in ^f,-'^ 
love with a music-master from Brescia, in whom nobod}^ ' 
but herself could discover anything to admire. Her pride, 
and perhaps some better feelings, struggled hard against 30 
this degrading passion. But the struggle irritated her 
nerves, soured her temper, ahd at length endangered her 
health. Conscious that her choice was one which Johnson 
could not approve, she became desirous to escape from his 
inspection. Her manner towards him changed. She was 35 



42 LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 

sometimes cold and sometimes petulant. She did not con- 
ceal her joy when .he left Streatham; she never pressed 
him to return; and, if he came lanbidden, she received 
him in a manner which convinced him that he was no 
5 longer a welcome guest. He took the very intelligible 
hints which she gave. He read, for the last time, a chapter of 
the Greek Testament in the library which had been formed 
by himself. In a solemn and tender prayer he commended 
the house and its inmates to the Divine protection, and, 

10 with emotions which choked his voice and convulsed his 
powerful frame, left for ever that beloved home for the 
gloomy and desolate house behind Fleet Street, where the 
few and evil days which still remained to him were to run 
out. Here, in June, 1783, he had a paralytic stroke, from 

15 which, however, he recovered, and wliich does not appear 
to have at all impaired his intellectual faculties. But 
other maladies came thick upon him. His asthma tor- 
mented him day and night. Dropsical symptoms made 
their appearance. While sinking under a complication of 

20 diseases, he heard that the woman whose friendship had 
been the chief happiness of sixteen years of his life had 
married an Italian fiddler; that all London was crying 
shame upon her; and that the newspapers and magazines 
were filled with allusions to the Ephesian matron, and the 

25 two pictures in "Hamlet." He vehemently said that he 
would try to forget her existence. He never uttered her 
name. Every memorial of her which met his eye he flung 
into the fire. She meanwhile fled from the laughter and 
the hisses of her countrymen and countrywomen to a land 

30 where she was unknown, hastened across Mount Cenis, 
and learned, while passing a merry Christmas of concerts 
and lemonade parties at Milan, that the great man with 
whose name hers is inseparably associated had ceased to 
exist. 

35 f 51. He had, in spite of much mental and much bodily 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 43 

affliction, clung vehemently to life. The feeling described 
in that fine but gloomy paper which closes the series of his 
Idlers seemed to grow stronger in him as his last hour drew 
near. He fancied that he should be able to draw his breath 
more easily in a southern climate, and would probably have 5 
set out for Rome and Naples, but for his fear of the expense 
of the journey. That expense, indeed, he had the means 
of defraying; for he had laid up about two thousand 
pounds, the fruit of labours which had made the fortune 
of several publishers. But he was unwilling to break in 10 
upon this hoard ; and he seems to have wished even to keep 
its existence a secret. Some of his friends hoped that the 
government might be induced to increase his pension to 
six hundred pounds a year; but this hope was disappointed ; 
and he resolved to stand one English winter more. That 15 
winter was his last. His legs grew weaker; his breath 
grew shorter; the fatal water gathered fast, in spite of 
incisions which he, courageous against pain, but timid 
against death, urged his surgeons to make deeper and 
deeper. Though the tender care which had mitigated his 20 
sufferings during months of sickness at Streatham was 
withdrawn, he was not left desolate. The ablest physi- 
cians and surgeons attended him, and refused to accept ' 
fees from him. Burke parted from him with deep emo- 
tion. Windham sate much in the sick-room, arranged the 35 
pillows, and sent his own servant to watch a night by the 
bed. Frances Burney, whom the old man had cherished 
with fatherly kindness, stood weeping at the door; while 
Langton, whose piety eminently qualified him to be an 
adviser and comforter at such a time, received the last 30 
pressure of his friend's hand within. When at length the 
moment, dreaded through so many years, came close, the 
dark cloud passed away from Johnson's mind. His tem- 
per became unusually patient and gentle; he ceased to 
think with terror of death, and of that which lies beyond 35 



44 LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

death; and he spoke mucli of the mercy of God, and of 
the propitiation of Christ. In this serene frame of mind 
he died on the 13th of December, 1784. He was laid, 
a week later, in Westminster Abbey, among the emi- 

5 nent men of whom he had been the historian, — Cowley 
and Denham, Dryden and Congreve, Gay, Prior, and 
Addison. 

52. Since his death the popularity of his works — the 
"Lives of the Poets," and, perhaps, the "Vanity of 

10 Human Wishes," excepted — has greatly diminished. His 
" Dictionary " has been altered by editors till it can scarcely 
be called his. An allusion to his Rmnbler or his Idler is 
not readily apprehended in literary circles. The fame even 
of " Easselas " has grown somewhat dim,- But, though 

15 the celebrity of the Avritings may have declined, the ce- 
lebrity of the writer, strange to say, is as great as ever. 
_^ Boswell's book has done for him more than the best of his 
own books could do. The memory of other authors is 
kept alive by their works. But the memory of Johnson 

20 keeps many of his works alive. The old philosopher is 
still among us in the brown coat with the metal buttons 
and the shirt which ought to be at wash, blinking, puffing, 
rolling his head, drumming with his fingers, tearing his 
meat like a tiger, and swallowing his tea in oceans. No 

25 human being who has been more than seventy years in the 
grave is so well known to us. And it is but just to say 
that our intimate acquaintance Avitli what he would him- 
self have called the anfractuosities of his intellect and of, 
his temper serves only to strengthen our conviction that he 

30 was both a great and a good man. 



EXPLANATORY NOTES 



Life of Samuel Johnson. 

1 1 . Eminent English writers of the eighteenth century. See 
: Chronological Table. 

1 4. Lichfield. A clear idea of geographical relations is indis- 
pensable to an intelligent gras23 of literary history ; the student, 
therefore, should keeji a map near him, and fix in mind the 
location of the places associated with important persons and 
events. 

1 11. Churchman. A member of the Established Church of 
England as distinguished from Nonconformists or Dissenters, 
i.e., the Presbyterians, the Congregationalists, the Baptists, etc. 
For the struggle between religious parties in England, which is a 
long story, beginning in the reign of Henry VIII., at the time of 
the Reformation in Germany, see histories of England. 

1 13. The sovereigns in possessian were, first, William and Mary, 
who ascended the throne at the Revolution of 1688, which 
dethroned James II. ; and, afterwards, Anne, who succeeded 
William and Mary in 1702. Some acquaintance with the political 
history of this period, which may be gained from any history of 
England, is necessary to a full understanding of the life of 
Johnson. 

1 14. Jacobite. From "Jacobus," the Latin form of "James." 
An adherent of James II. after he was deposed, or of his son 
James Edward, the "Old Pretender"; or of his grandson 
Charles Edward, the "Young Pretender " ; hence, an opposer of 
the Revolution of 1688. 

1 15. A picture of Johnson's birthplace may be seen in G. 
Birkbeck Hill's edition of BosicelVs Johnson. 

1 36. The royal touch. It is a very old superstition that 



46 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

scrofula can be cured by a touch of the sovereign's hand ; hence, 
the disease is popularly called "the king's evil." See Macbeth, 
IV., iii., and Addison's account of Sir Roger de Coverley's visit 
to Westminster Abbey (Lowell's edition, in this series, p. 146). 
Queen Anne was the last English sovereign to touch for "the 
evil." For more information on the subject, see Chambers's Book 
of Days ^ vol. i., pp. 82-85. 

2 5. Her Tiand icas applied in vain. Perhaps the father ac- 
counted for the failure, as did many Jacobites on similar occa- 
sions, by the reflection that Mary, William, and Anne were 
" usurpers," and therefore could not be expected to have inher- 
ited a power which came only with " divine right " ! 

2 11. A picture of the Grammar School at Lichfield, which 
was attended by Johnson, Garrick, and Addison, is shown in 
Hill's edition of BosweWs Johnson. 

2 22. Attic. Attica was the district of Greece in which 
Athens was the principal city. 

2 26. Augustan delicacy of taste. The reign of Augustus 
CiEsar (B.C. 27-A.D. 14) was the golden age of Roman literature 
and art. 

2 27. Tlie great ^:>M5Zic schools of England are Winchester, 
Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Westminster, Charterhouse, Shrewsbury, 
St. Paul's, and Merchant Taylors', which are supported, not by 
taxation, like the free "public schools" of America, but by 
endowments and the tuition of pay scholars. 

2 31. Tfte great restorers of learning. During the "Dark 
Ages " (a.d. 600-1200), the civilization which Rome had spread 
over Europe decayed, and European society fell back into a 
state of semi-barbarism. The term "Revival of Learning" is 
usually applied to the special outburst of enthusiasm for Greek 
and Latin literature and art which originated with Italian schol- 
ars in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and which is more 
properly called the "Renaissance." Foremost among the 
restorers of learning were Petrarch, Boccaccio, and Politian 
(Italy), Erasmus (Holland), Casaubon (France), and Sir Thomas 
More (England). 

2 33. Petrarch. The greatest lyric poet of Italy (1304-1374), 
and an ardent scholar. He wrote both in Latin and in Italian, 
himself prizing most his Latin w^orks ; but he is now more 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 47 

famous for bis beautiful Italian lyrics. See Byron's Childe HarolcL, 
canto iv., stanzas 30-34 (lines 302-306). 

3 10. England has five universities: two ancient, Oxford and 
Cambridge ; and three modern, London (1836), Durham (1837), 
and the Victoria University (1880). 

3 13. Pemhrolce College. One of the tA\ enty colleges that com- 
pose the University of Oxford. For an account of tlie Englisli 
universities see the encyclopaedias under "University," "Ox- 
ford," and "Cambridge." 

3 20. Macrobius. An obscure Latin author (circa 400 a.d.). 

3 27. Christ Church. One of the most fashionable of the 
Oxford colleges. 

3 32. Oentleman commoner. One who pays for his commons, 
i.e.., a student who is not dependent on any foundation for sup- 
port, but pays all the university charges ; cori'esponding, in some 
American schools, to a "pay scholar" as distinguished from one 
an a scholarship. 

4 8. Po'pe's '■'■Messiah.'''' Pope's place in English literature is 
30 important that the details of his life and work should be 
.ooked up in the encyclopaedias or the histories of English litera- 
;ure. A good short biography will be found in the English 
Men of Letters Series. No poet except Shakespeare is oftener 
quoted. The Messiah was originally contributed to the Spectator. 

6 11. Usher of a grammar school in Leicestershire. In Great 
Britain, "grammar schools" are those in w^hich Latin and 
jlreek are taught as the principal subjects of instruction. In 
their curricula they do not differ from the " public " scliools. 
5ee note to 2 27. "Usher" means, of course, an "assistant 
naster." 

6 19. Politian (1454-1494). Tlie friend of Lorenzo de' Medici 
the great patron of Italian learning), and one of the leaders of 
he Italian Renaissance. See note to 2 31. 

6 24. Mrs. Elizabeth Poi'ter was twenty years older than 
fohnson. 

6 29. The Queensberrys and Levels. English families of high 
ank. 

6 33. Titty. A nickname for "Elizabeth." 

7 22. David Oarriclc. One of the greatest of English actors, 
qually at home in tragedy and comedy. Garrick was so promi- 



48 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

nent in the life and literature of the eighteenth century that the 
details of his career sliould be looked up in an encyclopaedia. 
See also Goldsmith's poem Retaliation, which contains a sketcli 
of Garrick's character. 

7 33. In the preceding generation. Addison, for example. 

8 5. Several writers of the nineteenth century, etc. For 
instance, Byron, Scott, George Eliot, and Macaulay himself. 
See Introduction. 

8 12. See note to 4 8. 

8 17. Thomson. James Thomson, an English poet (1700-1748), 
whose fame rests on his Seasons, The Castle of Indolence, and Rule 
Britamiia, which are worth the student's attention. 

8 18. Fielding. Henry Fielding (1707-1754), the first great 
English novelist. His important novels were Joseph Andrews. 
Jonathan Wild, Tom Jones, and Amelia. A charming short sketch 
of Fielding's life is to be found in Thackeray's English Humor- 
ists. 

8 20. T7ie Beggar''s Opera, by John Gay, had a run of sixty- 
three nights, and by its success banished from the stage for a 
time the Italian opera, which it ridiculed. 

8 29. A porter''s knot. A pad for supporting burdens on thel 
head. 

9 9. Drury Lane. A street in the heart of London, running 
north and south about midway between Charing Cross and St. 
Paul's Cathedral. In the time of the Stuarts it was an aristocratic 
part of tlie city, but about Johnson's time its respectability began 
to wane. j 

9 21. Alamode beef shops. " Alamode beef" was "scraps and 
remainders of beef boiled down into a thick soup or stew." — 
Murray^s Dictionary. 

10 1. Osborne. "It has been confidently related, with many 
embellishments, that Johnson one day knocked Osborne down in 
his shop, with a folio, and put his foot upon his neck. The 
simple truth I had from Johnson himself. ' Sir, he was imperti- 
nent to me, and I beat him. But it was not in his shop : it was 
in my own chamber. ' " — Boswell. 

" There is nothing to tell, dearest lady, but that he was inso- 
lent and I beat him, and that he was a blockhead and told of it, 



LIFE OF SAMUEL J&HNSON 49 

which I should never have done. ... I have beat many a 
fellow, but the rest had the wit to hold their tongues." — Piozzi's 
Anecdotes of Johnson. 

10 4. The Harleian Library. The famous library collected l)y 
Robert Harley, First Earl of Oxford (1661-1724), and afterwards 
bought by Osborne. The books were described in a printed 
catalogue of four volumes, part of which was made by Johnson. 

10 13. It was not then safe., etc. For the reason see Macaulay's 
History of England, chapter iii., the paragraph beginning, "No 
part of the load which the old mails carried out was more im- 
portant than the newsletters." For a discussion of the relation 
of the Publicity of Parliaments to Liberty see Lieber's Civil 
Liberty and Self- Government, chapter xiii. 

10 17. Lilliput. The laud of the pygmies described in Swift's 
Oullivefs Travels, a book which every boy should read. The 
names Blefuscu, Mildendo, etc., occur in that celebrated classic. 

10 29. Capulets and Montagues. The English spelling of the 
names of the Cappelletti and Montecchi, two noble families of 
Northern Italy, chiefly memorable for the legend on which 
Shakespeare has founded his play of Romeo and Juliet. 

10 30. The Blues of the Roman Circus against the Oreens. In 
Roman chariot races the drivers were at first distinguished by 
white and red liveries. Afterwards two additional colors, a ligiit 
green and a cerulean blue, were introduced. In course of time 
the Romans, like modern "sporting-men," devoted their lives 
and fortunes to the color which they espoused ; and thus were 
formed certain "factions of the circus," wliich often came to 
blows in their rivalry. For a fuller account of this subject see 
Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter xl. 

10 32. The Church. The Established Church of England. 

10 35. Sacheverell. A high church divine (1672-1724) who 
maintained the doctrine of non-resistance to the king. For an 
account of his prosecution by the Whigs see histories of England. 

116. Jacobitical. See note to 1 14. 

119. Tom Temfest. A character in Johnson's Idler (No. 10). 

11 11. ZaMcZ (1573-1645), Archbishop of Canterbury, and prin- 
cipal adviser of Charles I. in all matters relating to the Church. 
He was of the opinion that "unity cannot long continue in the 
Church when uniformity is shut out of the Church door ; " and 

4 



50 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

when be came into ecclesiastical power he attempteci to enforce 
uniformity of worship by tyrannical measures. Laud soon became 
profoundly hated by the Parliamentarians, and was finally be- 
headed by order of Parliament, in spite of the intercession of 
the king. For an account of his character and work see Gardi- 
ner's StudenV s nhtory of England, or the Encyclopmdia Britannica. 
See also Macau lay's Essay on Ilallam. 

11 15. Hampden. A statesman of the time of Charles I., famous 
for his resistance to the demands of the king for " ship-money." 
His life and work should be looked up in detail. 

11 17. Falkland and Clarendon. Statesmen of the time of 
Charles I., and adherents of the king. 

11 18. Roundheads. The adherents of Parliament in the 
struggle against Charles I., so called in ridicule, from their 
fashion of wearing their hair closely cut. The Cavaliers, their 
opponents, wore their hair in long ringlets. 

11 35. The Great Rebellion. The rebellion against Charles I. 
The explanation of Johnson's prejudice against the Scotch is not 
so simple as Macaulay suggests. The passage in Boswell's 
Johnson, which Macaulay probably had in mind, is as follows : 

"After musing for some time, he [Johnson] said: 'I wonder 
how I should have any enemies, for I do harm to nobody. ' 
Boswell: 'In the first place, Sir, you will be pleased to recollect 
that you set out with attacking the Scotch ; so you got a whole 
nation for your enemies.' Johnson: 'Why, I own tiiat by my 
definition of oats I meant to vex them.' Boswell: 'Pray, Sir, 
can you trace the cause of your antipathy to tiie Scotch V 
Johnson: 'I cannot, Sir.' Boswell: 'Old Mr. Sheridan says 
it was because they sold Charles the First.' Johnson: 'Then, 
Sir, old Mr. Sheridan has found out a very good reason! '" The 
definition of oats referred to was : "A grain which in England is 
generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." 

12 9. The opposition. The party in Parliament opposed to 
the Ministry. 

12 14. That noble poem in which Juvenal had described, etc. 
The Third Satire, in which Juvenal (a.d. 38-120) tells why his 
friend left Rome to dwell on the sea-coast. Juvenal is known to 
us only through his sixteen Satires, which occupy the very first 
rank in satirical literature, and are of priceless value as pictures 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 51 

of Roman life in his day. Dryden's versions of five of the satires 
are admirable, and should be looked up. A good metrical trans- 
lation is Giflford's. Pope's imitations of Horace's Satires and 
Epistles may be found in any large library. Johnson's London, 
imitating Juvenal's Third Satire, is inHales^sLotiger English Poems. 

13 14. Pledged. Pawned. 

13 29. 37(6 Mue ribands in Saint Jameses Square. The rib- 
bons worn by members of the Order of the Garter. St. James's 
Square contains the mansions of the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl 
of Derby, the Bishop of London, and other members of the 
aristocracy. 

13 22. Psalmanazar, a French adventurer, won fame and 
money by pretending t« ke a aatire of F«rm»sa. 

13 Bl. Neiogate. @nce the principal prison of London. 
Among famous prisoners confined there were Daniel Defoe, Jack 
Shejijiard, and Titus Gates. 

14 7. The Piazza of Covent Garden. Originally the " Convent 
Garden " of the monks of Westminster. In the Covent Garden 
Piazzas, now nearly all cleared away, the families of many dis- 
tinguished persons used to reside. 

14 26. 07'ub Street. "The name of a street in London much 
inhabited by writers of small histories, dictionaries, and tempo- 
rary poems ; whence any mean production is called Grub Street." 
— Johnson'' s Dictionary. 

15 5. Warhirton. William Warburton (1698-1779), Bishop 
of Gloucester, a celebrated critic and controversialist. For 
Johnson's estimate of him see Johnson's Life of Pope. 

15 15. Chesterfield. Chesterfield's Letters to his Son is still 
considered a classic. Johnson said of it, "Take out the immo- 
rality, and it should be put into the hands of every young 
gentleman." 

16 5. The " Vanity of Hmnaii Wishes'''' is in both Hales's Longer 
English Poems and Syle's From Milton to Tennyson. The passages 
referred to by Macaulay should be looked up and compared with 
the passages from Juvenal's Tenth Satire. See note on 12 14. 

16 29. His tragedy, begun many years before. This was Irene 
(see p. 7), the plot of which concerns the unhappy love of 
Mahomet the Great, first emperor of the Turks, for a beautiful 
Greek captive named Iiene. 



52 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

16 32. Goodman's Fields. Not far from tlie Tower of London. 

16 35. Drury Lane Theatre. One of the oldest and most 
important of the London theatres, first opened in 1674, with an 
address by Dryden ; several times rebuilt. Here Garrick, Kean, 
the Kembles, and Mrs. Siddons used to act. For Drury Lane 
see note to 9 9. 

17 30. He had not the slightest notion of what hlanlc verse should 
he. For a discussion of what blank verse should and should not 
be, see Lanier's The Science of English Verse (Scribner's), Carson's 
Primer of English Verse (Ginn and Co.), or Gummere's Handbook 
of Poetics (Ginn and Co.). 

18 6, 7. The Tatler. The Sjyectator. The former was a peri- 
odical established by Richard Steele in 1709, and was the fore- 
runner of English literary magazines. It ran successfully for 
nearly two years. Two months after the last number of the 
Tatler, the Spectator appeared, published every week day, and 
supported chiefly by the contributions of Addison, assisted by 
Steele. The Spectator ran with great success until 1713, when it 
was succeeded by the Guardian, the last periodical on which 
Addison and Steele worked together. The student who is not 
familiar with the Tatler and the Spectator should make their 
acquaintance at once. For an interesting account of the Spec- 
tator and the Tatler, see the Introduction in Dr. Lowell's edition of 
the Sir Roger de Coverley papers in this series. For a fuller account 
of these famous periodicals, see Macaulay's Essay on Addison, or 
Courthope's Life of Addison in the English Men of Letters Series. 

18 21. Richardson. Samuel Richardson (1689-1761), the 
famous English novelist who wrote Pamela, Clarissa Harlowe, and 
Sir Charles Grandison. 

18 23. Toung. Edward Young (1681-1765), an English poet, 
best known for his Night Thoughts. 

Hartley. David Hartley (1705-1757), a physician and psycholo- 
gist, a friend of "Warburton, Young, and Bishop Butler. 

18 24. Bulb Doddington. "Indeed, as far as we recollect, 
there were in the whole House of Commons only two men of dis- 
tinguished abilities who were not connected with the govern- 
ment ; and those two men stood so low in public estimation, 
that the only service which they could have rendered to any 
government would have been to oppose it. We speak of Lord 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 53 

George Sackville aud Bubb Doddington." — Macaulay's Essay on 
the Earl of Chatham. 

18 29. Prince Frederic.'^ The oldest son of George II. and 
father of George III. 

18 31. Leicester House. Once the home of the Sidneys ; in the 
time of Johnson, the residence of the Prince of Wales. 

19 24-28. Sir Roger, Will Wimble, Will Honeycomb, etc. Char- 
acters or sketches in the Spectator. See, for instance, the charm- 
ing Nos. 5, 69, 106, 108, 159, and 584. All the papers relating 
to Sir Roger and his club have been edited by Dr. Lowell for 
this series. 

19 30-33. Squire Bluster, Mrs. Busy, etc. Characters or sketches 
in the Rambler. 

20 9. The Gunnings. Two sisters, Elizabeth and Maria, cele- 
brated and fashionable beauties of the middle of the eighteenth 
century. Frequent mention of them is made by Horace Walpole 
in his correspondence. 

20 10. Lady Mary. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689- 
1762), whose beauty and wit were famous throughout England. 
When her husband was appointed ambassador to Constantinople, 
she accompanied him, aud wrote from the East her Letters, one 
of the most delightful books in our language. She introduced 
into Europe the practice of inoculation, which she had seen in 
Turkey. 

20 12. The Monthly Revieic. Whig in politics and non-con- 
formist in theology ; therefore unfriendly to Johnson, who was 
a Tory and a Churchman. Its opponent and rival was the Crit- 
ical Review, which was supported by Smollett. Johnson, and 
Robertson. 

21 8. This famous letter is as follows : 

To THE Right Honorable the Earl op Chesterfield. 

February 7, 1755. 
My Lord, 

I have been lately informed by the proprietor of the World that 
two papers in which my Dictionary is recommended to the pub- 
lic, were written by your Lordship. To be so distinguished is 
an honor which, being very little accustomed to favors from the 
great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to 
acknowledge. 

When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your 



54 EX PL A NA TOR. Y NO TES 

Lordship, I was overpowered, like the rest of mankiud, by the 
enchantment of your address ; nnd could not forbear to wish 
that I might boast myself le vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre — 
that I might obtain tliat regard for which I saw the world con- 
tending ; but I found my attendance so little encouraged that 
neither pride nor modesty would suffer me to continue it. When 
I had once addressed your lordship in public, I had exhausted all 
the art of pleasing whicii a retired and uncourtly scholar can 
possess. I iuive done all that I could ; and no nuin is well 
pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little. 

Seven years, my Lord, liave now passed, since I waited in your 
outward rooms or was re[)ulsed fi'oni your door ; during which 
time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties of 
wliich it is useless to complain, and have brought it at last to the 
verge of publication without one act of assistance, one word of 
encouragement, or one smile of favor. Such treatment I did not 
expect, for I never had a patron before. 

The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and 
found him a native of the rocks. 

Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on 
a man struggling for life in the water, and when he has reached 
ground encumbers him with help ? The notice which you have 
been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, liad been 
kind ; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot 
enjoy it ; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it ; till I am 
known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynical asperity 
not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or 
to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that 
to a patron which Providence has enabled me to do for myself. 

Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation 
to any favorer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I 
should conclude it, if less be jiossible, with less ; for I have 
been long wakened from that dream of hope in which I once 
boasted myself with so much exultation, my Lord, 

Your Lordship's most humble, most obedient servant, 

Sam. Johnson. 

21 15. Home Tooke. John Home, an eminent English politi- 
cian and philologist, whose conversational powers rivalled those 
of Johnson. See Boswell's Johnson, 1778. The passage in the 
Preface, which moved Home so deeply, is often quoted as a speci- 
men of Johnson's best style, and is as follows : 

"In this work, when it shall be found that much is omitted, 
let it not be forgotten that much likewise is performed ; and 
though no book was ever spared out of tenderness to the author, 
and the world is little solicitous to know whence proceeded the 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 55 

faults of tliat which it condemns ; yet it may gratify curiosity to 
inform it that the Englisli Dictionary was written with little as- 
sistance of the learned, and without any patronage of the great ; 
not in the soft obscurities of retirement, or under the shelter of 
academic bowers, but amidst inconvenience and distraction, in 
sickness and in sorrow. It may repress the triumph of malig- 
nant criticism to observe, that if our language is not here fully 
displayed, I have only failed in an attempt which no human 
powers have hitlierto completed. If the lexicons of ancient 
tongues, now immutably fixed, and comprised in a few volumes, 
be yet, after the toil of successive ages, inadequate and delusive ; 
if the aggregated knowledge, and co-operating diligence of the 
Italian academicians, did not secure them from the censure of 
Beni ; if the embodied critics of France, when fifty years had 
been spent upon their work, were obliged to change its economy, 
and give their second edition anotlier form, I may surely be con- 
tented without tiie praise of perfection, which, if I could obtain, 
in this gloom of solitude, what could it avail me ? I have pro- 
tracted my work till most of those whom I wished to please have 
sunk into the grave, and success and miscarriage are empty 
sounds : I therefore dismiss it with frigid tranquillity, having 
little to fear or hope from censure or from praise." 

21 30. Teutonic language. The Teutonic languages are those 
spoken by the Teutonic or German races, i.e., German, Dutch, 
English, Danish, Swedisii, etc., as distinguished from the Romance 
or Latin languages, i.e., Italian, Spanish, French, etc. Much 
light is thrown on the origin and meaning of English words by 
a knowledge of kindred words in the otiier languages of the 
Teutonic group. 

21 33. Was scarcely a Teutonic language. An exaggerated 
reference to Johnson's fondness for words of Latin origin. In 
the Preface to the Dictionary, seventy-two per cent, of tlie words 
are of old English, i.e., Teutonic origin, and only twenty-eight 
per cent, of Latin or Greek origin. 

21 33. Junius and Shinner. Francis Junius (1589-1678) and 
Stephen Skinner (1633-1667), were scholars who devoted them- 
selves to the study of the Teutonic languages. How lightly 
Johnson took his etymological labors may be gathered from the 
following anecdote : 

"Dr. Adams found him [Johnson] one day busy at his 'Dic- 
tionary,' when the following dialogue ensued : 

"Adams. This is a great work, Sir. How are you to get all 
the etymologies ? 



56 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

"Johnson. "Why, Sir, here is a shelf with Junius, and Skin- 
ner, and others ; and tliere is a Welch gentleman who has pub- 
lished a collection of Welch proverbs, who will help me with the 
Welch. 

"Adams. But, Sir, how can you do this in three years ? 

" Johnson. Sir, I have no doubt that I can do it in three years. 

" Adams. But the French Academy, which consists of forty 
members, took forty years to compile their dictionary. 

"Johnson. Sir, thus it is. This is the proportion. Let me 
see ; forty times forty is sixteen hundred. As three to sixteen 
hundred, so is the proportion of an Englishman to a French- 
man." — Boswell's Life, 1747. 



22 5. Simnging-houses were victualling houses or taverns, 
frequently belonging to bailiffs, where persons arrested for debt 
were kept by a bailiff for twenty-four hours before being lodged 
in prison, in order that their friends might have an opportunity 
of settling the debt. The following is the half-jocose definition 
of Johnson's Dictionary: " Spuugiug-house, a house to which 
debtors are taken before commitment to prison, where the bailiffs 
sponge upon them, or riot at their cost." 

22 19. Jenyiis. Soame Jenyns (1704-1787). Johnson justly 
condemned his Inquiry as a slight and shallow attempt to solve 
one of the most difficult of moral problems. 

23 4. Rasselas. The History of Easselas, Prince of Abyssinia. 
Published in 1759. Frequently reprinted in English, and trans- 
lated into many foreign languages. See Bibliography. 

23 6. Miss Lydia Languish. A character in Sheridan's famous 
comedy, The Rivals. Her peculiarities may be inferred from her 
name. 

24 4. Bn/ce's Travels. James Bruce (1730-1804) was the most 
celebrated of the early African explorers. 

24 8. Burke. Edmund Burke (1729-1797), orator and states- 
man, distinguished above all the men of his times for eloquence 
and political foresight, and without doubt one of the most culti- 
vated men of the eighteenth century. See Professor Cook's edi- 
tion of Burke's Sjyeech on Conciliation loith America, in the present 
series. 

24 9. Mrs. Lennox. A literary woman of Johnson's time. 
She was a great favorite with Johnson, who cited her in his 
Dictionary, and gave a supper in her honor to celebrate the pub- 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 57 

licatiou of her first book. Much interesting information about 
her is given in Boswell's Johnson. Mrs. Sheridan. The motlier 
of tlie dramatist Richard Brinsley Slieridan. See note on 23 6. 
She was something of an autlior, and "a most agreeable com- 
panion to an intellectual man." Joimson spent many pleasant 
hours at her home. 

24 22. The -poet tcho made Hector quote Aristotle, etc. Shakes- 
peare. See Troilus and Cressida, Act II., Sc. ii., and Wi7iter''s 
Tale, Act II., Sc. i., and Act V., Sc. ii. Aristotle, the great Greek 
philosopher, lived in the fourth century B.C., eight hundred 
years after the Trojan War. Ilectoi-, the great hero of Troy. 

24 23. Julio Romano was an Italian painter (1492-1546), the 
most gifted of RaphaeFs pupils. 

25 3. The Lord Privy Seal. Tiie Privy Seal is appended to 
British documents of minor importance which do not require the 
Great Seal. The officer who has the custody of the seal is now 
called the Lord Privy Seal. He is the fifth great officer of state, 
and has generally a seat in the Cabinet. The Lord Privy Seal 
referred to in the text was Lord Gower. Johnson once said to 
Boswell: "You know. Sir, Lord Gower forsook the old Jacobite 
interest. When I came to the word Eenegado, after telling that 
it meant 'one who deserts to the enemy, a revolter,' I added, 
sometimes we say a Gower. Thus it went to the press; but the 
printer had more wit than I, and struck it out."- — Boswell's John- 
son, 1755. 

25 13. Oxford was becoming loyal. See 11 5, 6. George III., 
of course, belonged, not to the House of Stuart, but to the House 
of Hanover. 

25 14, 15. To be explained by lines 10-12. 

25 16. Lord Bute. For a full account of Bute, see Macaulay's 
Essay on the Earl of Chatham. 

25 29. The printer''s devil. The youngest apprentice in a 
printing office, who runs on errands and does dirty work, such 
as washing ink from rollei's and type, sweeping, etc. By "fear- 
ing " him, Macaulay means dreading the call for more copy which 
the " devil" would bring him. 

26 20. A ghost which haunted a house in CocTc Lane. For a full 
account of " Scratching Fanny, the Cock Lane Ghost," and the 
investigation of the matter by Johnson, see Hill's edition of 



58 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Boswell's Johnson, 1763; Hare's Walhs in London, vol. i., pp. 204 
flf. ; Mr. Lang's book, I'he Cock Lane Ghost, or the interesting arti- 
cle in Harper''s Magazine (August, 1893). Macaulay's account of 
tlie affair is unjust to Johnson. 

26 28. Churchill. An English poet and satirist (1731-17(54), 
now remembered as much for his profligacy as for his poetry. 
Some of his lines on the Cock Lane Ghost are reprinted iu Hare's 
Walhs in London. 

27 10. Polonius. See Shakespeare's Hamlet. 

27 11. Wilhelni Meister. Tlie hero of a famous novel of the 
same name, by Goethe. The remarks on the character of Hamlet, 
-which Macaulay refers to, are quoted in the Introduction to Mr. 
Rolfe's edition of Hamlet (Harper). 

27 30. Ben. Ben Jonson (1574-1637), next to his friend 
Shakespeare, the greatest dramatist of the Elizabethan age. 

28 2, 3. ^schylus, Euripides, Sophocles. The three great tragic 
poets of Greece. Of their two hundred and fifty-eight dramas, 
only thirty-two have come down to us. The chief works of 
^schylus (525-456 b.c.) are Prometheus Bound and Agumennon; 
of Sophocles (495-405 B.C.), (Edipus Tyrannus, (Edipus Coloneus, 
and Antigone; of Euripides (485-406 B.C.), Alcestis, Electra, 
Lphigenia in Tauris, Orestes, Bacchm, and Tphigenia in Aulis. 

28 5, 6. Massinger, Ford, Declcer, Webster, Marloio, Beaumont, 
or Fletcher. Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, contemporary 
with Shakespeare. 

28 16. The Royal Academy. The oldest and most influential 
institution in London connected with the Fine Arts, founded in 
1768. Johnson was appointed " Professor in Ancient Literature " 
tlie year after it was founded, and about the same time Goldsmith 
was elected "Professor in Ancient History." Of this appoint- 
ment, Goldsmith, writing to his brother in January, 1770, said: 
"The King has lately been pleased to make me Professor of 
Ancient History in a Royal Academy of Painting which he has 
just established, but there is no salary annexed, and I took it 
rather as a compliment to the institution than any benefit to 
myself. Honors to one in my situation are something like 
ruffles to one that wants a shirt." 

29 31. Goldsmith. Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774), the author 
of the finest jjoem {The Deserted Village), the most exquisite novel 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 59 

{The Vicar of Wakefield), and tlie most deliglitful comedy {She 
Stoops to Conquer-) of the period to which he belongs. For an 
excellent short account of him, see the Introduction to Miss 
Jordan's edition of The Vicar of Wakefield in tliis series, or 
Macaulay's Life in the Encyclopoedia Britannica. 

29 33. Reynolds. Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), the first 
president of the Royal Academy, and generally acknowledged as 
the head of the English school of painting in the eighteenth cen- 
tury. He wrote much on art, and contributed, at Johnson's 
request, three papers to the Idler. 

29 34. Oiblon. Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), autlior of the 
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, probably the 
greatest historical work ever written in English. Jones. Sir 
'William Jones (1746-1794), a great Oriental scholar, the founder 
and first president of tlie Royal Asiatic Society '' for investigating 
the history, antiquities, arts, sciences, and literature of Asia." 

31 2. Mnikes. John Wilkes (1727-1797), a man of bad char- 
acter, prominent in the politics of his day, and notorious chiefly 
for prosecutions brought against him that involved the liberty of 
the press. A full account of him will be found in Macaulay's 
•Essay on the Earl of Chatham, or in Gardiner's Studenfs History 
of England. 

31 4. Whitfield. George Whitfield (1714-1770), one of tiie 
founders of Methodism, celebrated for the power of his preach- 
ing, which was usually done in the open air. He made seven 
missionary journeys to America. Some interesting information 
about him is given in Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. 

32 27. Southwarh. On the south side of the Thames. Streat- 
ham Common, in South London. 

33 11. Buck. Dandy. Maccaroni. "The word is derived 
from the Macaroni club, instituted by a set of flashy men who had 
travelled in Italy, and introduced Italian macaroni at Almack's 
isubscription table."— Brewer's Handbook of Phrase and Fable. 
Cf. the familiar phrase in " Yankee Doodle." 

' 34 10. The Mitre Tavern. A tavern in Mitre Court, off Fleet 
Street, famous for its literary associations. 

35 25. Lord Mansfield (1704-1793), was Chief-Justice of the 
King's Bench. 

36 4. Macpherson. James Macpherson, or McPherson (1738- 



60 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

179G), who professed to have found in the Higlil.ands of Scotland 
fragments of ancient poetry in Gaelic, "translations" of which 
he published in 1 762 under the title, Fingal, an Epic Poem, in Six 
Books, hy Ossian. Tiie authenticity of tiiis work was doubted, 
and critics demanded a view of the original poems ; but Mac- 
pherson died without disclosing the originals of his professed 
discoveries. 

36 28. The Kenrichs, Camfbelh^ MacNicols, and Hendersons. 
The curious student will be intei"ested to look up the references 
to these critics in the index to Hill's edition of Boswell's Life of 
Johnson. 

36 85. Maxime, si tu vis, etc. "Most earnestly do I desire, 
if you are willing, to measure my strength witli you." 

37 12. Bentley. Richard Bentley (1662-1742), an English critic 
and famous classical scholar. 

37 28. Taxation no Tyranny. This work was intended as an 
answer to Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America. 

38 22. Wilson. Richard Wilson (1714-1782), an eminent Eng- 
lish landscape painter. 

38 30. Cowley. Abraham Cowley (1618-1667). 

38 35. The Restoration. The restoration (1660) of the Stuart 
kings, after the Commonwealth and the Protectorates of Oliver 
Cromwell and his son Richard. 

39 6. The wits of Button. Button was the proprietor of a 
coffee house where political and literary wits resorted in the 
early part of the eighteenth century. Gibber. Colley Cibber 
(1671-1757), a second-rate English actor and playwright, ap- 
pointed poet-laureate in 1730. See Boswell's Johnson. 

39 7. Orrery. The fifth earl of Orrery, author of a Life of 
Swift. See Boswell's Johnson. 

39 8. Swift. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), the celebrated wit 
and satirist. His life and works should be looked up in detail. 
See Johnson's sketch in Lives of the Poets. 

39 9. Services of no very honouralle kind. Savage had been a°'-'' 
ciated with Pope in the publication of the Dunciad. 

39 19. '' The Lives of the Poets.'' See Bibliography. 

40 17. Malone. Edmund Malone (1741-1812), a celebf'^ed 
critic and commentator on Shakespeare. 

41 28. A music-master from Brescia. His name was Piozzi. 



LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 61 

This attachment was not so "degrading" us Macaulay makes it 
seem. See the brief article " Piozzi " in the Encydopcedia Britan- 
nica. For a picture of Mrs. Thrale (born Hester Lyncli), after- 
ward Mrs. Piozzi, see Hogarth's engraving, "The Lady's Last 
3 Stake." 

L 42 8. ^ solemn and tender prayer. "Almighty God, Fatlier 

of all mercy, help me by thy grace, that I may, with humble 

ii and sincere thankfulness, remember the comforts and conven- 

'f, iences which I have enjoyed at tiiis place ; and that I may resign 

them with holy submission, equally trusting in thy protection 

j when thou givest and when thou takest away. Have mercy upon 

j' me, O Lord, have mercy upon me. To thy fatherly protection, 

O Lord, I commend this family. Bless, guide, and defend them, 

bithat they may so pass through this world, as finally to enjoy thy 

. everlasting happiness, for Jesus Christ's sake, Ameu." — Boswell's 

J, Johnson. 

42 24. The EpJtesian matron. A character in a Latin story 
.i(by Petronius), who, from grief, descended with the corpse of 

her husband into the vault to die, and there fell in love with a 
I soldier sent to guard the dead. The whole story is told in the 
It: last section of the last chapter of Jeremy Taylor's Holy Dying. 
;i 42 25. The two pnctures. See Hamlet, Act HL, Sc. iv. For 
I some of the letters that passed between Johnson and Mrs. Piozzi 
jjsee Scoone's Four Centuries of English Letters. 

43 35. Windham. William Windham (1750-1810), Secretary 
for War in Lord Grenville's ministry. 

43 27. Frances Burney, afterward Madame D'Arblay (1752- 
1840), author of Evelina and Cecilia, two well-known novels of 

vthe time. See Macaulay's Essay on Madame D^Arllay. 
43 29. Langton. See page 30. 

i The first aim in studying this piece of prose, as has already been 
said (see page xxxvii.), must be to understand what Macaulay has 
written, to give these pages of his so careful a study as to be 
n^vie to explain accurately and definitely any passage in it. As 
an ai.^ in conducting this process and in attaining this result — 
a clear understanding of the text^the preceding Explanatory 

t'N'^tes have been added. They are intended to touch briefly on 
the nnre important references and allusions with which a pupil 
may be unfamiliar. But it is the pupil that must extend and 



62 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

complete tlie work IMucli has been passed over without com- 
ment, from a conviction tliut it is ■wise to force the young student 
to depend as little as possible on notes, and as much as possible 
on his own efforts, in judging what information he really needs, 
and how he may best secure it. However he does it, the pupil 
must master the text of Macaulay's Life of Johnson as thoroughly 
as he would the text of Cicero's Oration against Catiline. The 
Life is prescribed for actual study, not for reading, and the 
student must not leave it until he has gone through it word by 
word, allusion by allusion, sentence by sentence. He must 
understand exactly what Macaulay meant. That does not neces- 
sarily imply that he should know all about every character to 
whom Macaulay refers, but it does mean that he should know 
enough about the subject of each reference to understand why 
it was made. To assist the pupil in testing the extent and 
accuracy of this preliminary study, the following questions have 
been prepaied, to which answers will not be found in the pre- 
ceding Exj)lanatory Notes. They will indicate the sort of under- 
standing of the text that the pupil must in some way attain. A 
few may appear trivial; but whoever has gone conscientiously 
through the labor of preparing boys for college in English will 
realize that seemingly trivial questions are often not without 
value. Simple things are easily overlooked. 

Specimen Questions on the Text : for Oral Review or 
Written Examination. — What does Macaulay mean by 

Augustan delicacy of taste (2 26) ? Is Latin taught in England 
in a way to which we are not accustomed ? Why go^cn (4 2) ? 
Explain refracted (5 28), registrar (C 4), ceruse (6 31), ordinaries 
(9 21). Define sycophancy (9 28). Just what is meant by ])arts 
ill 13) ? By pilloried, mangled with the shears, whipped at the 
carfs tail (11 27) ? By hack (13 6) ? By Jewish rabbis and Chris- 
tian fat hers {IS 23) ? Wily palm (16 8) ? Is carcase (16 17) a familiar 
word ? What does acidulated mean (17 15) ? Why closet (17 29) ? 
What is a turgid style (19 15) ? Comment on are known to every- 
body (19 29). What is the difference between the authority of a 
Dictator and that of a Pope (21 1, 2) ? What is ^ folio (21 4) ? 
What is tlie derivation, and what the meaning, of lexicographer 
(21 18), etymologist (21 29) ? What is meant by sheets (22 35) ? 



LIFE OF SA3IUEL JOHNSON 03 

I By epithet (23 20) ? By women are married without ever being seen 
(24 12) ? Define adjured (2G 24). To what language does 
Pomposo belong (26 32) ? What is meant by happy conjectural 
\,emendation (27 15) ? By period (28 34) ? What is the Southern 
\\.Cross (30 30) ? Explain quarto (31 32). How could Johnson 
,have an apartment at a brewery {^2 26) ? What is a sg?/ir6 (34 32) ? 
Explain Ce^^ic (35 1). Why is the line quoted a detestable Latin 
^hexameter (36 34) ? Why at that season (38 28) ? What is meant 
),by poetasters (39 3) ? Explain the reference in Cibher, trho had 
^Mutilated the ]jlays of two generations of dramatists (39 G, 7) ? What 
Js the meaning, and what the derivation, of anfractuosities 
5(44 28), and why does Macaulay use the Avord ? 

f 

Not even when the jiupil has mastered the full meaning of the 

(text, word for word, and sentence for sentence, is it safe to 

assume that he has Macaulay's ideas thoroughly in mind. That 

must be made certain by requiring careful summaries. The 

pupil should reduce the thought of each paragraph to a single 

.sentence, should determine what are the main ideas of the whole 

.composition, and then make a scheme of the structure. Such a 

jplan from Macaulay's Essay on Milton is here reprinted ' as a 

.good example of what a thoughtful analysis of a similar piece of 

writing should show. 

§§ 1-8. Prefatory Remarks. Description of a theological 
work by John Milton, lately discovered. 

§§ 8-49. First Division of the Essay : Milton's Poetry. 

§§ 8-18. First topic : Is Milton's place among the greatest mas- 
ters ? Yes, for he triumphed over the difficulty of writing poetry 
in the midst of a highly civilized society. A discussion of the 
'relation of poetry to civilization. 
* §§ 18-20. Second topic : Milton's Latin poetry. 

§§ 20-25. Third topic : Some striking characteristics of Mil- 
'ton's poetic methods. A description of the effect produced by the 
'peculiar suggestiveness of the words he uses. Examples, UAlle- 
\ gro and 11 Penseroso. 

§§ 25-30. Fourth topic : Milton's dramatic poetry. Like the 

■ 'From Jlr. Croswell's edition of Macaulay's E^say on Milton, in 
this series. 



64 EXPLANATORY NOTES 

Greek drama, it has much of the lyric cliaractcr. The Greek 
drama and Samson Agonistes ; Comus and tlie Italian Masques. 

§§ 30-47. Fifth topic : Paradise Lost. Parallel between Mil- 
ton and Dante. A discussion of Milton's superiority in the man- 
agement of the agency of supernatural beings. 

§§ 47-49. Sixth topic : The sonnets. 

§§ 49-87. Second Division op the Essay : Milton's conduct 
AS A CITIZEN. The conduct of his party associates. §§ 49- 
72. First topic : Milton's joining the party of the Parliament in 
1(>43. §§ 49-51. Under the impressions derived from seventeenth 
and eighteenth century literature, many Englishmen fail to see 
that the Long Parliament was defending principles, of govern- 
ment accepted by all England since 1688, and now struggling 
for recognition in the rest of the world. §§ 51-57. The rebellion 
of Parliament against Charles I. is therefore justified by a com- 
parison, point by point, with the glorious Revolution dethroning 
James II. §§ 57-73. Admitting, then, the justice of Parliament's 
quarrel with the king, was their rebellion too strong a measure ? 
When are revolutions justified ? 

§§ 73-78. Second topic : Milton's association with the Regi- 
cides and Cromwell. §§ 72-75. The execution of Charles not so 
very different a measure from the deposition of James. But even 
if one disapproves of the regicide, one may admit tlie necessity of 
defending it at that time. §§ 75-78. Discussion of Cromwell's 
good government compared with Parliament's betrayal of trust 
on one side and the Stuart misgovernment on the other. 

§§ 78-87. Third topic : Milton'.s contemporaries classified and 
described. §§ 79-84. The Puritans. § 84. The Ileatlieus. §85. 
The Royalists. § 86. Milton's own character compounded of 
many different strains. 

§§ 87-93. Third Division op the Essay : Miuton's Prose- 
writings. His pamphlets devoted to the emancipation of human 
thought. 

§§ 92 to End. Conclusion. A vision of Milton. 

After a scheme of the thought has been made, in this or some 
other fashion equally good, the pupil should write a number of 
short essays, each of which should have for its object the repro- 
duction in the pupil's own language, and on a smaller scale, of 
the ideas contained in one of the large divisions of the Life. 



CRITICAL NOTE 

Under this heading are gatliered certain detailed suggestions 
as to the further study of Macaulay's Life of Johnson. Up to this 
point we have considered only a single part of our work — that 

. pertaining to the understanding of the text. The pupil must 
not stop here, however, nor slacken his efforts. The pleasantest 

, part of his task remains undone. We have yet to see (1) what 
we can gain from a study of Macaulay's style, (2) what we can 

. gain by considering the truth, appropriateness, or suggestive- 

j; ness of Macaulay's ideas, and (3) what progress we can make, 

! after this introduction by Macaulay, in the study of Johnson's 
life and times and in the enjoyment of his works and those of 
his contemporaries. In such matters teacher and pupils must be 

I left largely to their own devices, but a few hints may seasonably 

i be given under the successive heads of Rhetorical Study, Sug- 

i gestive Study, and Literary Study. 

i Rhetorical Study. Rhetorical work in the preparatory schools 

: should have simply the aim of enabling pupils to write simply, 
clearly, and correctly. Minute precept, the philosophy and logic 

i of expression, detailed analysis of style — all these are subjects 
for college work. To write simply, clearly, and correctly is all 

; that can reasonably be asked of a sub-Freshman. Fluency, 
gi-ace, beauty, power — all these may be inculcated later. Sim- 
plicity, clearness, and correctness are the essential qualities, 
and no one is a better teacher of them than Macaulay. Fine 
critics have found fault with his style, but they cannot deny 
that it has proved the most successful prose style of the century. 
Success means something. To receive wide and long con- 
tinued approbation a style must have the very best of qualities. 

i Macaulay is an excellent model. 

The student has two things to do if he would get the most out 

1 of Macaulay's style. First, he must like it and learn the " tune " 
5 



66 CRITICAL NOTE 

of it. That is the main thing. He should pick out the finest 
passages in the Life, read them aloud again and again, perhaps 
even memorize short parts of them, until he gets the "swing" 
of the style. Then he should choose from matters familiar to him 
a subject of the sort that Macaulay liked, ' and try to treat it 
after the Macaulay fashion, reading his essay aloud witli em- 
phatic vigor to see if it has the proper ring. The process of imi- 
tation leads inevitably to analysis. Just how does Macaulay 
secure his results ? he must a.sk himself, and that means that he 
and his classmates must go systematically to work to analyze 
Macaulay's style. The task is not a hard one. Long paragraphs, 
short sentences, balanced or parallel structure in sentences and 
paragraphs, a wnde vocabulary of dignified and picturesque 
words — this is wliat his instructor will help him to find, and, 
having found the secret of the method, he will go on to apply it. 
He will choose particular typical sentences of Macaulay's and 
match them with similarly constructed sentences of his own on 
a different topic. If he can do that well, he has learned a lesson 
that will long stand him in good stead. 

Suggestive Study. It will be disappointing if the pupil reads 
Macaulay blindly, or imitates him blindly. Macaulay is famous 
for expressing clearly and vigorously ideas worth thinking of. 
The student must keep his mind open to ideas, full of curiosity. 
Not only will he be impressed by the main point of the essay — 
the vivid delineation of Johnson's character, not only will he be 
thrilled with sympathy and admiration, but he will find food 
for reflection on almost every page. Take a single illustration 
from the very first paragraph. " That Augustan delicacy of 
taste," says Macaulay, speaking of English schoolboys. "Clas- 
sical writers who w^ere quite unknown to the best scholars in tiie 
sixth form at Eton," he continues. Evidently some Englisli boys 
may actually have a delicate taste in points of Latin usage at an 
age when most American boys are thankful if they can stumble 
through Virgil or Cicero. Evidently some English boys have really 
a wide range of Latin literature at their command. What makes 
the difference ? Why are w^e ignorant where they are wise ? 

' Following the excellent method outlined by Mr. E. L. Miller. 
See the Suggestions to Teachers and Students in his edition of 
Southey's Life of Nelson in this series. 



CRITICAL NOTE 67 

Are the tables turned in other fields of knowledge ? What is 
there sound and good in our own education ? Such chance ques- 
tionings the instructor should deliberately encourage. Few boys 
know how to keep their minds active as they read. Even sug- 
gestions so random as those just indicated with regard to the 
English system of classical education might be the beginning, 
in a young student's mind, of an exceedingly profitable train of 
thought. It is obviously impossible, however, for any editor to 
indicate more than the general character of such suggestive 
study. The whole process must be left, for the most part, to the 
pupil himself, who, with the encouragement of the instructor, 
should, from time to time, try to sum up, not Macaulay's ideas, 
but the results of his own thinking on matters which his study 
of Macaulay has suggested. 

Literary Study. Valuable as the two kinds of training just 
mentioned are, they should be wholly subordinate to the study 
of the Life as an introduction to a wider knowledge and enjoy- 
ment of English literature. Luckily, the book looks two ways, 
opening an easy avenue on the one hand to Macaulay, and on 
the other to Johnson. Both were interesting men, and both 
belonged to interesting periods of literature. To which author 
and to which group the student turns his attention, it makes 
little difference. The main thing is that he should read — read 
with zest, and read with appreciation. But here also the 
teacher and the pupil must be left to their own devices. With 
interest and earnestness one cannot, in this field, go far astray — 
particularly in dealing with a book so full of references to the 
best known literary figures of the eighteenth century. Even if 
the student does nothing more thau grow familiar with Boswell's 
Johnson and some of ]\Iacaulay's best essays, he has accomplished 
something tliat will contribute directly and in no small degree 
towards laying the foundations of a liberal education. 



MACAULAY'S 

ESSAY ON ADDISON 

EDITED 

WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION 
BY 

JAMES GEEENLEAF CROSWELL, A.B. 

HEAD-MASTER OF THE BREARLET SCHOOL, NEW TORK 



COPTKIGHT, 1895 
BY 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

All ri(jlds reserved 



First Edition, December, 1895 

Reprinted, March, 1898, August, 1899 

June, 1900, March, 1901, and January, 1902 

Revised, .Jaxuabt, 1903 



PREFACE 

It is hard for an editor of a book designed for formal 
study to determine precisely what parts of the learning 
that has gathered about his subject should be offered di- 
rectly, by way of annotation, to young students. Two 
methods of treatment at once suggest themselves. He 
may annotate the text very sparingly, on .the assumption 
that an intelligent boy knows enough to read ordinary 
English prose literature understandingly, and should be 
forced to find out for himself the meaning of words or 
allusions that he does not comprehend. Or he may an- 
notate profusely, on the much sounder assumption that 
boys and girls are not living dictionaries and encyclo- 
psedias, and scarcely ought to be expected to interrupt 
reading which they are encouraged to enjoy in order to 
search various volumes for information that might just 
as well be put at once before them. Both extremes tlie 
editor of the present volume has tried to avoid. He 
has endeavored to give the pupil such facts as will enable 
him to read rapidly and understandingly ; he has en- 
deavored also to stimulate in the pujiil an intelligent 
curiosity with regard to matters worth further investigation 
and further knowledge. It is his belief, however, that in 
the editing of text-books, as in all other parts of the teach- 
er's delicate task, unchecked devotion to any theory of 
work, sound though it be, may very well lead to disaster to 
some pupils. He hopes, therefore, that those of his col- 
leagues who use this book will understand that he has tried 
to prepare it for various uses, thinking of different classes 



VI PREFACE 

of pupils, at different periods of ripeness. If the annota- 
tion is for any purpose too full, it is far easier to neglect 
any excess than to supply a real and painful deficiency 
that might arise in reading Macaulay under the ordinary 
conditions of the classroom. 

This edition of Macaulay's essay follows the authori- 
tative text, of which Longmans, Green, and Co. are the 
publishers. 

J. G. C. 



CONTENTS 



PA6E 

Introduction ix 

Suggestions for Teachers and Students .... xxviii 

Chronological Table xxxii 

Essay on Addison 1 



INTRODUCTIOIS" 

[The essay on Addison, besides illustrating the life of an author 
whose works are to be read in preparation for college, has a gen- 
eral interest as being a well-constructed and brilliantly successful 
"review-article." This type of essay-writing one may almost assert 
to have been invented by the Edinburgh Reviewers, of which famous 
coterie Macaulay was one of the greatest. His essays are classic 
specimens of the type. 

Macaulay was not one of the founders of that periodical. It origi- 
nated in 1802 among a number of young men of the generation before 
him, whose interests — social, literary, and political, — brought them 
together in Edinburgh. The most famous were Jeffrey, Sydney Smith, 
the witty divine who instigated the enterprise, Henry Brougham, and 
Francis Horner. They were Liberals or "Whigs" in politics, and 
full of fight for their side in all public questions. The merit of the 
work of these talented young "journalists," the novelty of the enter- 
prise, and what was thought to be the daring of the views expressed in 
these articles on various questions of the day, made the Edinhurgh a 
rallying point for the popular party in English politics, and gave to 
the " Buff and Blue" magazine a wide circulation. The Tory party 
started the Quarterly Review to meet it, and the Westminsier Review 
was begun later by a new set of young " Radicals," who found the 
Edinburgh too slow for them ; both thus paying it the flattery of 
imitation. Even to the present day the form of these essays is, to a 
great degree, followed in certain periodicals, especially in the follow- 
ing particulars, which it will interest young students to notice. 

It was thought needful by the Edinburgh writers, while they were 
treating their subjects, in truth, in the most general way, to connect 
their discursive harangues with a criticism of some definite book 
lately published. Thus, Macaulay begins his essay on Addison with 
a hasty criticism of Miss Aikin's "Life of Addison." But once he 
gets into his article a little way, the reviewer abandons his intended 
task, and proceeds to develop his own opinions about the character 
and conduct of Addison from the standpoint of his own party, the 
"Whigs of 1832." In the process of treating these questions, he 
rambles off into short excursions upon kindred subjects, wholly ignor- 
ing the book under review, and giving himself the privilege of unbur- 
dening his soul upon any political questions which interest him, or 



:^ INTRODUCTION 

entering upon literary criticism or general topics of the day, as we 
should do in modern magazine articles, which are more frankly de- 
voted to general discussions. Other likenesses and differences 
between the EdinMirgh articles and their modern equivalents will 
interest the student of English literature in its present manifesta- 
tions, but they are not essential to the understanding and appreciation 
of the text, and space does not allow us to discuss them here.] 

1. A BEiEF summary of English politics after the Puritan 
commonwealth ended will perhaps help the reader in fol- 
lowing the historical allusions of the essay. The Eestora- 
tion days were not altogether easy times. England had 
taken up her Stuart monarchy in 1G60, as a refuge from the 
worse trouble of anarchy, as a man returns, for necessary 
protection against bad weather, to an old garment once 
discarded. It did not protect her very well. There were, 
to be sure, no more sufferings from ostentatious tyranny 
on the part of King Charles, no rebellious Parliaments in 
arms against royal authority ; but for fifty years more 
there were continual movements of political parties for 
the overthrow of government. Protestants suspected 
Catholics, and passed severe penal laws against that reli- 
gion. Tories suspected Whigs and procured severe laws 
against Protestant Dissenters. The side which got upper- 
most in politics condemned and executed its opponents. 
Such a disturbance was the Papist Plot in 1678, whose 
story was probably a figment composed by a band of 
needy adventurers who made their living as witnesses. 
For some reason the government pretended to believe 
them, and many wholly innocent Catholics lost their lives 
as plotters against the king. In 1680 a bill to exclude 
James, the king's brother, from the throne because he 
had become a Catholic, passed the House of Commons. 
The king dissolved the Parliament and summoned a new one 
at Oxford, hoping that the memories of the civil war and the 
loyalty of that old university might affect the disposition 



INTRODUCTION xi 

of the members. The conduct of this Parliament, called 
the " Oxford Parliament," however, was so stubborn and 
insolent as to create a reaction in the country in favor of 
! the king. Charles dissolved this Parliament after a session 
of only a few days, and the reaction continued. By 1683 
the Tories had won the public confidence again. Some 
secret party schemes of certain great Whig nobles were dis- 
covered by the Tories, and at the same time there came out 
a plot cooked up by some villainous hangers-on of the 
■ Whig party to assassinate the king and his brother near 
' the '* Rye-house," a farm on the way from London to New- 
market. By a malicious confusion of the two "plots," 
Lord Eussell and Algernon Sidney were found guilty of 
treason and executed. But the death of Charles in 1685 
brought his Catholic brother to the throne of England. 
'The Roman danger, from which English Protestantism 
'had been safe, since the execution of Mary Queen of Scots, 
reappeared in startling form. All other issues were swal- 
lowed up in this. In three years James had so alarmed all 
parties by his tyrannical acts, in connection with his efforts 
to re-establish the Catholic religion, that people of all 
' parties joined in inviting the Prince of Orange to enter 
' England with Dutch troops. Thus came about the revolu- 
tion of 1688, of which Macaulay says so much. Parliament 
' laid before the Prince of Orange, who was a near heir to the 
^ crown himself, and whose wife was next heir after James 
and his children, a "Declaration of Right." It contains 
once more an assertion of the principles for which the 
' people of England had been fighting through the genera- 
' tiou of Milton. Making or suspending laws without consent 
of Parliament is to cease ; ecclesiastical commissions are not 
' to be made into courts ; levying money without consent of 
■ Parliament is illegal ; elections of members of Parliament 
must be free ; and so on. William and Mary accepted the 
crown then offered them, and were proclaimed king and 



Xii INT ROD UCTION 

queen on condition that they should abide by these princi- 
ples. Henceforth the Stuart theory of divine right could 
never be pleaded by any English monarch again. James 
Stuart and his son, with the adhesion of a smaller number 
of Englishmen in each generation, represented themselves 
as kings of England by inheritance till the direct line died 
out. But the actual monarchs of England have held their 
authority ever since 1688, not by the law of inheritance, 
but by the consent of the people. The Stuart theory of 
divine right was dead. 

2. But under the new "^constitutional monarchy *' a 
struggle still went on. There still continued to be two 
parties in politics, the party of progress and reform, inher- 
iting most of the Puritan tradition in church and state, and 
the party representing the English love of precedent, cus- 
tom, and conventionality. They called themselves Whig 
and Tory, cant terms of uncertain origin and no meaning. 
Addison, like Milton, and, indeed, like Macaulay also in 
his day, belonged to the party of popular government, the 
Whigs. 

3. In the confusing history of England in Addison's 
lifetime, this significant fact may be seized and remem- 
bered in connection with his career. Almost uncon- 
sciously, in the intrigues of the court and the politicians, 
the great English device of '^ party -government " was de- 
veloping — a happy device, avoiding evermore tbe civil wars 
and blind revolutions of an earlier day, yet providing free- 
dom for the advance of the English nation toward the 
democratic ideals of the inevitable future. 

4. Under "party-government" in its modern shape, 
the sovereign selects to conduct the affairs of the nation a 
committee of councillors, called the Cabinet, giving to each 
member charge of some important department of the ex- 
ecutive work of government. By selecting all this Cabi- 
net from one party, and making it represent the majority 



INTRODUCTION xiii 

in Parliament, the actual governing body of England, the 
English '"Government" is made to obey the will of the 
people. The clumsy and cruel decisions of physical force 
and civil war need not be resorted to in determining the 
most exciting questions of domestic and foreign policy. 

5. AVlien Queen Anne came to the throne in 1702 it can- 
not be said that this method of government had been prop- 
erly developed, at least as a regular part of British consti- 
tutional procedure. But the activity of parties in her 
reign brought it forward very far. The Queen found her- 
self faced at her accession by two parties ; and she had ties 
with each. The Tories, on the whole, represented the 
principles of her family and her own convictions ; but the 
Act of Settlement which made her Queen was a Whig 
measure. Her friends the Churchills, like herself, were 
Tories by education. Marlborough, Anne's most trusted 
adviser, and in fact the whole body of her councillors, were, 
however, by the influence of the war which England had to 
fight with Louis XIV., swept over toward a Whig policy 
and driven to ask for a Whig support. The reason of this war 
and of England's connection with it was as follows : After 
the revolution of 1688, which banished James II., England 
found herself curiously entangled with the politics of the 
continent. William III., her reigning sovereign, was a 
Dutchman, with Dutch relationships. The banished 
Stuarts took refuge at the court of Louis XIV., the great 
historic representative of absolute monarchy {Vetat, c'est 
i,, 7noi), and enlisted the active aid of France in restoring 
; them to the English throne. The next heirs to the Stu- 
j arts were the German princes of Hanover. It is no won- 
der that the English politics of Addison's lifetime dealt 
largely with foreign alliances and foreign dynastic ques- 
tions. The great question of all was, briefly put, how far 
in general the power of Louis XIV. (le roi soleil) was to 
extend over Europe, and whether England and the other 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

powers were to become subservient to his interests. Natu- 
rally Louis represented everything that was hostile to 
England's future growth and her present cherished convic- 
tions and hopes. He was the great Eoman Catholic prince, 
heading the Anti-Protestant party in Europe. He was an 
absolute monarch, like the Stuarts she had just turned out, 
the support and example of all the princely tyrants of his 
day and long after. Moreover, he was a dangerous mon- 
arch. He had created a military despotism of almost irre- 
sistible power. He was served by the best soldiers and the 
most cunning diplomats of his time. Even the genuine 
glory of his reign, the graceful culture, that aesthetic supe- 
riority of French society which extended French ideals ir- 
resistibly over the life and literature of all Europe, became 
too tyrannical in the end to be wholesome. To make head 
against all this tyranny, then, merely to save the life of the 
other races of Europe, vigorous resistance was demanded. 
The world needed an alliance of all who represented any 
human hope not included in the conceptions of life in 
vogue at the French court. When, therefore, on the de- 
cay of the Spanish reigning house, Louis seemed likely to 
get control of the resources of Sjiain, all Europe, with Eng- 
land at the head, rose against him. This was the meaning 
of Queen Anne's French war, which Marlborough was 
waging as Captain-General of the English forces, in alli- 
ance with the Dutch, Prince Eugene, the House of Savoy, 
and the Imperial German houses ; this gave the great value 
to Marlborough's victories of Blenheim, Ramillies, and Ou- 
denarde. This made it impossible even for the Jacobites 
and Tories of England to avoid seeking support from the 
Whig party against France, even though France supported 
the Tory Pretender to the English throne. But the results 
of this confusion of purposes in the court and cabinet of 
Queen Anne produced a series of vacillations and cross- 
currents in her own policy. The changes of ministry in 



INTRODUCTION XV 

her reign, though not regular, may be summarized as fol- 
lows : {a) From 1702-1708 {dnft toward the Whigs). She 
leaned at her accession first to the Tory party, making the 
Tory leaders, Harley and Godolphin, her chief ministers 
and refusing to appoint Whigs. But the war and the in- 
fluence of Marlborougli, the Captain-General, working 
largely through the curious submissive friendship of the 
Queen for the Duchess of Marlborough, drove them all 
slowly over to the Whig party. As the victories of Blen- 
heim and Ramillies made England glorious, and the Whigs 
powerful, the Queen dismissed her Tories and appointed 
Whigs. She did it with reluctance. Of the ''Junto," as 
the Whig leaders were called (Somers, Halifax, Oxford, 
Wharton, and Sunderland), she hated the last two person- 
ally, as much as she liked Harley. But she put Somers, 
Cowper, and even Sunderland and Wharton into power, and 
dismissed Harley. This movement brought Addison into 
office, first under Godolphin, and then under Wharton. 
Godolphin and Marlborough identified themselves with the 
Whigs, scandalizing the high Tories, but escaping dismissal. 
(b) From 1708-1710 {the Whigs in power j Tori/ reaction). 
The Queen^s policy drifted back to the Tory side. She 
transferred her personal affections to Mrs. Masham, a cousin 
of Harley, who represented the Tory intrigue. The feelings 
of her subjects also turned against the costly war and the 
statesmen who carried it on. Then, in an unlucky moment, 
Godolphin undertook to prosecute a clergyman. Dr. Sach- 
everell, for preaching a sermon against the war and the 
ministers. The prosecution failed ; and the Queen, who 
was a high-church woman, supported by the general feeling 
of the nation, treated the injured divine as a martyr. She 
dismissed Godolphin and one after another of the Whigs. 
In 1710 a new election gave a Tory majority in Parliament, 
md Harley came back to power as Lord Treasurer, (c) 
From 17 10-17 IJ^ {the Tories in 2)oioer). The Tories gov- 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

erned until the fear of a Stuart restoration restored the 
Whigs. Once more, when George I. was made King, the 
Whig party became again all powerful, holding office 
steadily till the accession of George III., and representing 
the Protestant principles and the Hanoverian succession. 
6. Addison's fortunes carried him deep into these 
party-politics of the reign of Anne. In the conditions 
of this new world, he played, in a sense, the useful part 
of modern editors in great contests of national politics. 
The needs of the Whig cause, bound " to own no force 
but argument," required, as Macaulay shows, the help of 
clever pens ; and the Whig leaders were lucky to find one 
in Addison. It is an interesting story to read, — and Ma- 
caulay tells it well, — how the young Fellow of Magdalen, 
by the extremely characteristic eighteenth century method 
of writing Latin verse, first came to the notice of the Uni- 
versity men, who then as now were forward in the councils 
of the English state and church ; how he became under 
their patronage at first a writer of what might be called 
" Government poetry " for the Whigs ; and then, with his 
friend Steele, discovered and mastered the great new form 
of literature, the periodical magazine, producing the immor- 
tal Tatler and Spectator, and their less known competi- 
tors. Not even Roman satire is more characteristic of its 
national origin than these essays. The papers of the Tatler 
are living pictures of the Englishmen who invented them. 
Even when they do not contain political "leading-articles " 
in the strict sense, they are filled with the soul of the English 
Whigs of Queen Anne's reign. Human life in them is a 
practical problem, like the problems of politics. To live it 
well men must argue and debate its questions, decide 
them for good and sufficient reasons, and abide by the 
decision. But under this fundamental notion of an argu- 
mentative criticism of life, in calm and unimpassioned 
debate, the essayist continually introduces, in the guise of 



INTRODUCTION xvii 

evidence and testimony upon questions at issue, vivid 

■ pictures of contemporary life based upon his observation 
of human nature. His propositions and the testimony to 
them are carefully stated in clear and graceful English 
pr6se ; the air of a quiet speaker to an intelligent assembly 

■ is maintained ; though it is but a dull hearer who cannot 

• recognize, in spite of some characteristic conventionalities 

• of form, an expression of some of the deepest and tenderest 
. experiences of the English nature. Even if we cannot now 
s take these writings at their true value, at least we still can 
' trace in them the undoubted origin of such forms of litera- 
ture as at present do mean the most to all of us. The Tat- 

• ler essays are the true ancestors of the modern novel, the 

■ modern magazine, and the modern newspaper. Everything 

• that has been accomplished by English literature, in these 

• three great departments, was lying in the path that Steele 
- and Addison " blazed out " at the beginning of the eigh- 
"■ teenth century, with their pioneer periodicals, which they 
J intended to be mirrors of contemporary life and thought. 
'<■ 7. Among the statesmen who, fortunately for English 
'I literature, discovered Addison, the most interesting person 
j- was his first patron, Charles Montague, also known in the 

• essay as Halifax, from his title. IMontague began, like Ad- 

• dison, as a scholar and a writer of Latin verse. He was 
intended, like Addison, to be a clergyman. But he left 
literature and divinity and entered Parliament. There he 
became one of the Whig leaders, and helped not a little to 

J bring about the Eevolution of 1680. He displayed a won- 
' derful ability as Lord Treasurer of King William, and will 
' always be remembered, not only for discovering Addison, 
the founder of modern English prose, but for initiating the 
tiiree characteristic features of modern English finance — 
tlic Bank of England, the national debt, and the sterling 
and stable currency. His interesting life may be read in 
Macaulay's "History of England." 



xviii INTRODUCTION 

8. Another of Addison's early patrons was Lord Chan- 
cellor Somers/ to whom he dedicated his " Travels in 
Italy/' the great lawyer, worker, and Whig politician, 
famous as John Locke's patron, not less than for tiie help 
he gave Addison. Another patron of later date was Lord 
Cowper, first Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He is 
famous not only as a great Whig lawyer, but for actions 
transcending partisanship, such as his opposing Marl- 
borough's desire to be made captain-general for life. In 
fact, Addison's path in life brought him in contact with 
the foremost Englishmen of his time.^ Another public 
man of great interest is Sidney Godolphin, the Lord Treas- 
urer of Anne, who gave Addison the commission to write 
the "^ Campaign." He was the faithful servant, said by 
Charles 11. to be "never in the way and never out of the 
way," afterwards minister of James II., and favorite coun- 
sellor of Anne, who though a Tory in feeling, knew how 
to co-operate with the Whigs, as the " October Club" did 
not. Until Sacheverell attacked him he was ever the judi- 
cious adviser and calm counsellor of the Cabinet. Through 
his fatal impeachment of that divine, he ruined his own 
life and the Whig cause. Nor should the student of Ad- 
dison forget Harley, Earl of Oxford. Though head of the 
Tory party in Anne's reign, he rose from the humblest be- 
ginnings, through a history far more characteristic of a Whig 
politician, by tact, brains, and debating power, to be one of 
the greatest Tory nobles of England and the favored min- 
ister of Queen Anne. His immense aptitude for the business 
of government, his indifference to princijale, and talent 
for intrigue, made him, within the limits of his situation, 

' For his connection with important events in King William's reign, 
see Macaulay's History of England. 

'^ It will be well for the student to look up, for exami)le, in the index 
to Macaulay's History^ the names of Sunderland, Shrewsbury, Cowper, 
an<} Wharton 



INTRODUCTION 



XIX 



the most successful contemporary politician. Perhaps the 
most brilliant of all that are mentioned in this essay, how- 
ever, was Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke, whose 
many interests can only be alluded to here.' Last but not 
least, there is to be studied with respect the great Marl- 
borough, and his equally great wife, Sarah Jennings. 
It is true that Addison's contact with them is but slight. 
Yet the hero of the " Campaign " and the maker of his- 
tory in this reign is not to be ignored, though his biography 
cannot be properly discussed at the end of a jiaragraph. 
Students should consult Mrs. Creighton's " Life of Marl- 
borough,"' that of Lord Wolseley, or that of Mr. Saintsbury. 
9. It will hardly be necessary for any one who has read 
Macaulay's essay to look elsewhere for biographical material 
of Addison. Macaulay has traced with much particular- 
ity the course of his life, following Miss Aikin's exhaust- 
ive work in its details. If one wishes more, Courthope's 
" Addison," in the English Men of Letters Series, serves 
to bring out in a more careful perspective view some facts 
about Addison which Macaulay distorts in the fervor of his 
eloquent descriptions. 

10. Of late years there has been a great deal of historical 
work about Addison's contemporaries, as there has been a 
sort of revival in interest for the habits and customs of our 
ancestors of Queen Anne's day. Old silver, old furniture, 
old architecture charm our present caprice and, under the 
modern historic taste, such books as Ashton's " Social Life 
of Queen Anne," Sydney's "England in the Eighteenth 
Century," and Morris's " Age of Anne " in the Epochs of 
History Series, have made easy of acquisition much of the 

' The student who wishes to know more of these great men may 
look in Lord Stanhope's Reign of Queen Anne^ and Lord Malion's 
History of England. See also the opening chapters of Morley's 
Walpole. Good articles upon them will also be found in the Encyclo' 
pcedia Britannica. 



XX INTR OD UCTION 

close information about tlie period which Macaulay says it 
is desirable to have in studying Addison. Justin McCarthy's 
two volumes on the reign of Queen Anne are, in his fashion, 
very readable. 

11. Two or three matters of interest may here be re- 
commended to general students. No one can get the full 
flavor of the social life of the time who does not study the 
London coifee-houses, taverns, and clubs. The coffee- 
houses were much like modern clubs. In each were found 
every day its own characteristic set of frequenters, sipping 
coffee or "mineral-water," writing letters, reading the 
*' news-sheets," transacting business, or playing cards. It 
is said that in 1715 there were as many as two thousand 
coffee-houses in London. Each had its own clients. Lit- 
erary men went to " Will's" or " Buttons" or the " Gre- 
cian," merchants to " Jonathan's," Whigs to the " St. 
James," Tories to the " Cocoa-Tree." ^ There were also 
clubs of a more definite organization. The " October 
Club" is thus described by Swift : " We are plagued here 
with an October Club, a set of above a hundred parliament 
men of the country, who drink October beer, and meet 
every evening at a tavern near the Parliament to consult 
affairs, and to drive things on to extremes against the 
Whigs, to call the old ministry to account and get off five 
or six heads." The rival AVhig club was the " Kit-Cat." 
It contained a galaxy of wits and statesmen. " Peg Wof- 
fington," the actress, was at one time its president. Hali- 
fax, Somers, Addison, Congreve, Vanbrugh, the Dukes of 
Somerset, Devonshire, Marlborough, Newcastle, the Earls 
of Dorset, Sutherland, Sir Robert Walpole, and many 
other great people were members.^ 

13. Interesting subjects would be found in the investi- 
gation of the education of youth in those days ; the posi- 

' See the first numbers of the Tatler for a list of fashionable coffee- 
houses. 

^ For a full account of these things see Sydney's England.^ Vol. I., 
Chapter IV. 



INTRODUCTION xxi 

tion, social and civic, of scholars and literary men ; the 
life at the Universities ; the character of the scliolarship 
and the thought of the country ; as well as the history of 
the bookmaking and bookselling of the period. Some of 
these questions connect themselves with Addison's own 
history. At school, under the discipline of the rod, he 
learned the current classical lore^ of which Latin was 
more attentively studied than Greek, and the forms of 
Latin far more than the contents. The culmination of 
such an education was to get ability in Latin verse compo- 
sit'on. Few reached anything noteworthy in such an arti- 
ficial accomplishment, though every boy pursued it. Hence 
Addison's gift was valued and admired by a wide public, 
and hence the great and admirable talents of Bentley, who 
is now seen to be the only scholar of any profitable type 
in a whole generation of English classicists, were only 
half understood and greatly undervalued by contemporary 
English scholars, because he dealt scientifically with the 
classics, with matter as well as form, and with the origi- 
nal Greek rather than the devious traditions of Italy and 
Eome. Addison's "grand tour " after leaving Magdalen, 
again indicates the type of the regular genteel English edu- 
cation, though Addison was of course a man who made 
something of it, just as he did of his Latin verse, where 
others did not. 

13. The good luck of the authors born at this period 
would be another subject of interest. The literary world 
in the " Augustan Age " of Queen Anne was in the height 
of fashion. Places and appointments were showered on 
successful writers ; ministries rivalled each other in recog- 
nizing talent ; authors lived witli noblemen, and noblemen 
affected to be authors. The men who wrote the Tatler and 
Spectator had the same lives, the same ambitions, and the 
same hopes, successes, and failures as the social leaders and 
statesmen of the aristocracy. The cause of this phenome- 



xxii INTRODUCTION 

non has been described by Mucaulay in pp. 57-59 ; it 
is all the more odd because there is no evidence that 
Queen Anne herself was fond of literature or art. For 
any parallel to tlie social conditions of authorship under 
Anne we must come down to the reign of Victoria ; and it 
may well be doubted if even here the social valuation placed 
upon wit and talent has ever been relatively so high as 
in Anne's reign. In the reign of the Georges all tliis good 
fortune was changed ; the horrors of Grub Street set in, as 
exhibited in the life of Samuel Johnson, who was born be- 
fore Addison died, and who starved and grew prematurely 
old in the same profession as Addison's, within the very 
next generation of Englishmen. 

14. One should refer to larger works than this for treat- 
ment of these interesting topics. Among the most valua- 
ble will be the classic novel of Thackeray, " Henry Es- 
mond." Thackeray depicts as few historical novelists have 
ever done the vanished life that Macaulay is here studying. 
It is a marvellous reproduction of the distant scene of 
Anne's reign ; the dead figures move again, in habit as they 
lived, following the course of events with historic accuracy; 
while yet the story marches on with the freedom and 
vivacity of untrammelled imaginative fiction. Thackeray 
may not be always trustworthy. Possibly Steele is drawn 
of too light a character, as he is also in Macaulay's essay ; 
very likely the love-story is a little out of keeping, and 
Henry Esmond himself rather an anachronism. But it re- 
mains a remarkable work of art and one of the best places 
in the world to study the age of Addison.^ 

15. The character of Addison himself, his prudence, 
modesty, good temper, and social charm, is on the whole 
well described by Macaulay. Its distinctive traits are 
brought out very clearly, as they appeared in his writings, 

' See also Historical Characters of the Reign of Queen Anne, by Mrs. 
Oliphant. 



INTRODUCTION xxiii 

;iud iu the evidence of his contemporaries. Thackeray has 
drawn tlie same Addison, with some exaggerations of traits, 
in the "English Humourists" and in "Henry Esmond." 
There is a very good biographical article upon Addison by 
Leslie Stephen in the "Dictionary of National Biography," 
and another by William Spalding, in the " Encyclopasdia 
Britannica." Courthope's " Addison," in the English 
Men of Letters Series, has already been mentioned. Out 
of any of these a clear picture of that fair character may 
without trouble be derived by the student. 

16. There is in the " Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot," as is 
well-known, a famous characterization of Addison at the 
hand of Pope, which ought to be compared with these, and 
which, though preserving the same general picture, gives 
a different kind of meaning to the character. For conven- 
ience of reference it is here printed. 

" Peace to all such ! but were there one whose fires 
True Genius kindles and fair Fame inspires ; 
Blest with each talent and each art to please, 
And born to write, converse, and live with ease : 
Should such a man, too fond to rule alone, 
Bear, like the Turk, no brother near the throne. 
View him with scornful, yet with jealous eyes, 
And hate for arts that caused himself to rise ; 
Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer. 
And without sneering, teach the rest to sneer; 
Willing to wound, and yet afraid to strike, 
Just hint a fault, and hesitate dislike ; 
Alike reserved to blame, or to command, 
A tim'rous foe, and a suspicious friend ; 
Dreading ev'n fools, by flatterers besieg'd, 
And so obliging, that he ne'er oblig'd: 
Like Cato, give his little senate laws. 
And sit attentive to his own applause ; 
While Wits and Templars every sentence raise, 
And wonder with a foolish face of praise : — 
Who but must laugh, if such a man there be ? 
Who would not weep, if Atticus were he ? " 



xxiv INTRODUCTION 

17. The 'Hittle senate " referred to here contains tAvo 
names worth a mention, Eustace Budgell, Addison's 
mother's sister's son, was a lawyer, or " Templar," who 
lived a great deal under Addison's care, and was a sort of 
private secretary to him, when in office. He is credited 
with some good papers in the Spectator. He separated 
from Addison before the latter's death, and the later years 
of his life were clouded with melancholy, ending in suicide 
at the age of fifty-seven. The other is Thomas Tickell, a 
mediocre poet, whose success in life was mainly due to the 
friendship and patronage of Addison. He is to be remem- 
bered for three things : first, that his attempt to translate 
the " Iliad " into English embroiled Addison (most un- 
justly) with Pope ; second, that Addison's kindness in get- 
ting Tickell the under-secretaryship of state in 1717 cha- 
grined Steele, and began the coolness between him and his 
old friend ; third, that Tickell's eulogy on Addison is a 
remarkable instance of how strong feelings produce good 
poetry from a man not otherwise inspired. Addison made 
Tickell his literary executor, and he published the first edi- 
tion of Addison's works. 

18. The quarrel with Pope and the quarrel with Steele, 
such as it was, need not be treated at greater length than 
is done in the essay. Pope should be further studied for 
his own sake, however. Perhaps the best plan would be to 
read Lowell's essay on Pope, or Leslie Stephen's memoir 
of Pope in the English Men of Letters Series. For the 
character of Steele's life and work one should certainly not 
trust to Macaulay. Books to consult are " Selections from 
the Works of Steele," by G. E. Carpenter ; '' Steele," by 
Austin Dobson ; " Life of Steele," by CI. A. Aitken. Lastly, 
the great Dean Swift comes into close relations with Ad- 
dison. Swift's '^ Journal to Stella" gives an idea of their 
friendship and its gradual cooling. For the study of 
Swift, see " Swift," by Leslie Stephen, and Craik's ''Life 



INTRODUCTION xxv 

of Swift." It is certainly interesting that these three, the 
greatest minds in Addison's circle of friends, did not main- 
tain their intimacy. 

19. It is not part of the editor's intention to add to the 
student's task the close study of the age of Macaulay. 
But it would be ungrateful to Lord Macaulay not to wish 
to know anything more of his life than he reading of tliis 
essay involves. Trevelyan's biography at least in selec- 
tions, will be at once a sufficient referen. e for this purpose, 
and is for its own sake, as almost a cl issic biography al- 
ready, to be suggested to the young student of English 
literature. Macaulay went on writing for the Edinburgh 
Review a succession of brilliant papers. These were col- 
lected and published in 1843, rather against his wishes. 
He thouglit them of temporary interest only, and scarcely 
worthy of preservation in book form. They have, how- 
ever, remained ever since among the most popular books 
in the English language. About six thousand copies a 
year of them in various editions are sold in his native 
country alone, and the demand for them is so steady as to 
be, like the demand for herrings in Holland, a sort of index 
from year to year of the country's ^^rosperity. In 1830 
Macaulay entered Parliament, being helped to get a seat 
there by Lord Lansdowne, who did not know him, but was 
interested in him by reading his essay on Mill. The most 
famous of these- essays on literary subjects are those on Ad- 
dison, Milton, Bunyan, and Johnson. On historical subjects 
the best essays are on Hallam, Temple (thought the best 
of all by Morison), Pitt, Olive, and Warren Hastings. 
There are famous passages also in the essay on Rauke's 
" History of the Poises," and in that on Bacon. 

20. Macaulay remained in Parliament through the great 
contest for reform in Parliament in 1832. His speeches 
made about that time on tlie passage of the great Reform 
Bill are very famous. In 1834 he received an honorable 



XX vi INTRODUCTION 

and lucrative appointment in India. He here lived till 
1838, doing excellent work for the government, and for 
himself reading enormously in the Greek and Latin clas- 
sics, as was the habit of his life. He then returned to Eng- 
land in 1839 and re-entered political life as member of 
Parliament for Edinburgh. He continued to write at in- 
tervals, bringing oiit, among the other things which every 
school-boy knows, the "Lays of Ancient Rome," in 1842. 
He now began also in the intervals of political life to write 
his great "Histoiy of England.'' The first volumes of 
this appeared in 1^48, followed by two more in 1855. This 
work may be called the most iJopular book of the sort ever 
printed in English. The publishers were able, in March 
of 1856, to pay him in one single check £20,000, for his 
share of the profits of one English edition. The number 
of editions of this great book is now quite beyond compu- 
tation ; and its sale still often exceeds that of the most 
popular novel of a year. It made him one of the most fa- 
mous historians in Europe. But the plan of the work was 
so great that even with all his wonderful industry it was 
never finished. It remains, like a broken statue, just as 
the author left it at his death, not half completed accord- 
ing to his design. 

21. Macaulay's political life Avas full of prosperity, 
checkered with less adversity than falls to the lot of most 
politicians. He lost his seat at Edinburgh, but was after- 
wards triumphantly re-elected. In 1839 he was a mem- 
ber of Lord Melbourne's government. In 1857 he was 
made Baron Macaulay of Rothley Temple. But the lai'ger 
part of his interest lay always with his literary and histori- 
cal work, upon which he labored, till, in 1859, he died, not 
unprepared by gradually failing health for that event, 
though it came to him at the early age of fifty-nine. He 
was buried in Westminster Abbey, in the Poets' Corner 
near the statue of Addison. His " Life and Letters," re- 



INTRODUCTION xxvii 

ferred to above, has been published by his nephew, Sir 
George Trevelyan. It is one of the best biographies ever 
written, and is again much to be commended to the general 

■ reader who desires to know more of a noble man. 

22. As to Macaulay's ''position in literature," the ques- 
tion may be said to be still undetermined. We wait for a 
thorough analysis of his work by the critics, and the critics 
wait for the final judgment of posterity. During his life 
he was esteemed even beyond measure by his countrymen. 
After his death came a sort of reaction against this popu- 

' larity. The tide, however, seems to be setting again the 
otlier way. At any rate, no one has ever denied that his 
narrative power in history is unapproached. And, as Mr. 

' Saintsbury says in his latest criticism of Macaulay, he is 

! certainly a very great man of letters, and ''an unsurpassed 

f leader to reading." 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND 
STUDENTS 



I. The first purpose in the mind of both teachers and 
students must be to use this essay of Macaulay, as the 
author intended all his essays to be used, not so much 
as an object of study in itself as a help toward the study 
of the author to whom it is dedicated. Of course it 
should be read carefully and intelligently, with due 
attention to the significance of the wealth of allusions by 
which Macaulay often conveys points in his discussions — 
points not to be understood by one who is ignorant of the 
general facts alluded to. The important thing, however, 
is that the pupil should learn, through Macaulay, to know 
Addison, and should keep this purpose uppermost in his 
mind in all his study of the essay. 

II. This object will be served by asking the students to 
make outline sketches of the contents of this essay and of 
the several topics handled in it. Written summaries may 
be composed in the class extempore, or given from mem- 
ory after preparation. Students may also be asked to 
study the Introduction in the same way. The Introduc- 
tion is supposed to put the student in an attitude of gen- 
eral intelligence toward the essay itself and the subject 
treated, as well as this can be managed without much 
reading in many books. It may not be necessary for the 
pupils to read the whole Introduction very carefully ; the 
good teacher will gather from it himself the objects held 
in view by the editor, and can help his pupils" to reach 



SUGGESTIONS FOB TU AGREES xxix 

them in any better way which occurs to him. Much 
reading in many books, when time permits, is of course a 
better way, if a pupil means to succeed in getting hold of 
tlie whole matter in the best way possible, regardless of 
time silent. But the editor does not feel that, as things 
are in the schools, such reading, or the time for such 
reading, can be assumed to belong to " every school-boy." 
The actual best way for the actual school-boy must 
often be to get such ideas from his text-book as will make 
' it possible to read Macaulay understandingly, or not to 
get them at all. 

III. Tests and thorough examinations on the work 
upon this essay should be given frequently, in connec- 
tion with the school reading of the "Sir Koger de 
j Goverley Papers." These tests should imply familiarity 
|; with this essay of Macaulay's, and with the general 
j- situations treated therein. They should also imply read- 
j' ing about Addison's life and political activity — for ex- 
, ample, about the Revolution of 1689, something about 
; Louis XIV. and the France of the seventeenth century, 
'- William III. and Anne, Marlborough and the Wars of the 
j Spanish Succession, and the struggle of Whigs and Tories 
[i down to the accession of George I. They should imjily 
; also that the student has derived an unconscious par- 
ticipation in Macaulay's own attitude about this history, 

■ and has begun to criticise in Macaulay's fashion, with 
Macaulay's help, not only the people and the subjects 

• here treated, but other kindred topics, particularly per- 

■ haps Macaulay himself. All this, it is supposed, will be 
: produced by studying these subjects, with the help of the 
1 notes, the Introduction, and the parallel readings recom- 
' mended. 

; IV. As to rhetorical study of this essay and criticism of 
I' Macaulay, tempting as it is, it ought to be subordinated to 
I the historical work described above. The teacher must be 



XXX SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS 

guided by his respect for the immaturity of his scholars, 
the shortness of the time at his command, the relations of 
the parts of school work to each other. Younger pupils 
must doubtless be drilled in the vocabulary of Macaulay 
Older pupils may discuss to advantage certain rhetorical 
subjects, using Macaulay as a provision of materials and 
examples. For example, this essay illustrates beautifully 
the periodic and the loose sentence, climaxes, re-statement 
of one idea in several forms, studied variety in wording, 
illustration and proof, parallel construction, '' particular- 
ity," figures of speech, similes and metaphors, antithesis, 
pungent contrasts, balanced expression, epigram and para- 
dox. Biblical phraseology and cadence, alteration of long 
and short sentences, artistic inversion and interrogation. 
The teacher, and better still, the pupil, will find his own 
examples. Any standard text-book in rhetoric will serve 
as a guide. 

V. Students should have access to a library containing 
the necessary reference books. For the study of these es- 
says the following may be suggested as valuable : 

{!) General Reference Books : A good encyclopaedia ; 
" The Century Dictionary," especially the supplementary 
volume on Names and Places ; Stojiford Brooke's " Primer 
of English Literature ; " Ward's ''English Poets;" Til- 
linghast's Ploetz's " Epitome of History," and a good atlas. 

(2) General Historical Works : J. K. Green's " History 
of the English People ;" Gardiner's " Student's History ;" 
Stanhope's " History of Queen Anne's Reign ; " Lecky's 
" England in the Eighteenth Century;" Justin McCarthy's 
''Reign of Queen Anne;" and, as manuals, Hale's "Fall 
of the Stuarts;" Morris's "Age of Anne" (in the Epochs 
of History), and "Student's Church History," Second 
Period. 

(3) Addison : Collected works, edited by Bishop Hurd 
(Bohu's Standard Library); "Selections from the Specta- 



SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS xxxi 

tor" (Clarendon Press); "Spectator in London/' illustrated, 
(Seeley & Co.) ; " Essays of Joseph Addison," chosen and 
edited by J. R. Green. For biography and criticism, see 
W. S. Courthope's ''Addison;" Thackeray's ''Henry 
Esmond " and " English Humourists," and the life of Ad- 
dison in Johnson's " Lives of the Poets." A full set of 
the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian would be valuable. 
Dobson's " Eighteenth Century Essays " contains selec- 
tions from many contemporary periodicals. 

{4) Macaulay : "Essays;" "History of England;" 
" Poems " (Longmans, Green, & Co.). For biography and 
criticism, see Trevelyan's "Macaulay's Life and Letters;" 
Morison's "Macaulay;" Morley's " Essay on Macaulay," 
in his Collected Works ; Bagehot's "Essay on Macaulay," 
in his "Miscellanies," Vol. I.; Leslie Stephen's "Macaulay," 
in his " Hours in a Library " (Third Series) ; and for later 
views, "Macaulay's Place in English Literature," by Fred- 
eric Harrison, and "Macaulay," by George Saintsbury, in 
his " Corrected Impressions." For the history of Macau- 
lay's time see the " Period of Eeform," by Justin McCar- 
thy, in the Epochs of History Series (Longmans). 

See also Macaulay's " Life of Samuel Johnson," edited 
by H. G. Buehler, in this series, his valuable bibliog- 
raphy, and the remarks in the Introduction. 



I 



XXXll 



CHRONOLOOIOAL TABLE 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

Addison's Life : 1672-1719. Period of Whig Revolution and 

Age of Anne. 



CONTEMPORABY POLITICAL HISTORY. 



1678. Peace of Nimuegen ; Popish 

Club of Dr. Gates. 

1679. Exclusion Bill ; Whig and Tory 

parties began. 

1683. Ryehouse Plot. 

1685. James II. succeeded ; Sedge- 
moor ; Bloody Assizes. 

1687. Expulsion of Fellows of Mag- 

dalen. 

1688. Declaration of Indulgence ; Tri- 

al of seven Bishops ; Land- 
ing of William of Orange. 

1689. William III. and Mary succeed- 

ed ; the " Glorious Revolu- 
tion"; Grand Alliance against 
Prance. 

1690. Battle of the Boyne. 
1694. Bank of England began. 
1697. Peace of Ryswick. 



1700. Philip Duke of Anjou and 

Charles of Austria disputed 
the Spanish crown ; War of 
Spanish Succession (1701- 
1714). 

1701 . " Act of Settlement. "' 

1702. Anne succeeded ; Ministry of 

Godolphin. 

1704. Tory ministers added ; Blen- 
heim. 

1706. Ramillies. 

1708. Dismissal of Tories ; Whigs 
powerful. 

1710. Prosecution of Sacheverell; 
Tory reaction ; Whigs dis- 
missed. 

1713. Peace of Utrecht. 

1714. George I. succeeded; Whigs re- 

turned to office. 

1715. Louis XV. of Prance succeed- 

ed ; Jacobite rebellion in 
Scotland. 



History of Literature and Sciknoe. 



1678. Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. 



1681. Dry den's Absalom and Ahit- 
ophel. 



1687. Hind and Panther ; Montague 
and Prior's burlesque; Coun- 
try Mouse and City Mouse ; 
Newton's Principia. 



1690. Locke on Human Understand- 
ing. 

1697. Bentley's Epistles of Phalaris ; 
Congreve's Mourning Bride ; 
Dryden's Virgil. 

1700. Dryden's Fables. 



1701. Steele's Christian Hero ; De- 
foe's True Born Englishman. 

1704. Campaign ; Swift's Battle of 
Books and Tale of a Tub. 

1706. Defoe's Apparition of Mrs. 
Veal. 

1709. Pope's Pastorals; The Tatler. 

1711. Pope's Essay on Criticism ; The 

Spectator. 

1712. Rape of the Lock. 

1713. Cato. 

1714. Steele's The Crisis. 

1715. Pope's Iliad. 



1719. Robinson Crusoe; Watts's 
Psalms and Hymns. 



THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF 
ADDISON 

(Edinburgh Review, July, 1843,) 

The Life of Joseph Addison. By Lucy Aikin,^ 3 vols. 
8vo. London, 1843. 

1. Some reviewers are of opinion tliat a lady who dares 
to publish a book renounces by that act the franchises 
appertaining to her sex, and can claim no exemption from 
the utmost rigour of critical procedure. From that 02:»in- 
ion we dissent. We admit, indeed, that in a country 
which boasts of many female writers, eminently qualified 
by their talents and acquirements to influence the j)ublic 
mind, it would be of most pernicious consequence that in- 
accurate history or unsound philosophy should be suffered 
to pass uncensured, merely because the offender chanced 
to be a lady. But we conceive that, on such occasions, a 
critic would do well to imitate the courteous Knight^ who 
found himself compelled by duty to keep the lists against 
Bradamante.''^ He, we are told, defended successfully the 
cause of which he was the champion ; but, before the fight 
began, exchanged Balisarda^ for a less deadly sword, of 
which he carefully blunted the point and edge. 

§§ 1-3. Criiicism of Miss Aikin's Life of Addison. 

'Lucy Aikin (1781-1864), daughter of Dr. John Aikin and sister of 
Mrs. Barbauld. Her best known works are Memoirs of the Court of 
James /., Memoirs of the Court of Charles I., and this Life. She has 
some fame also as a correspondent of Dr. Channing, the American 
preacher; and their letters have been published. 

'See Ariosto's Orlando Furioso., XLV., 68. Bradamante, sister of 
Rinaldo, loves Ruggiero, the " courteous knight." In many adventures 



2 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

H. Nor are the immunities of sex the only immnnities 
which Miss Aikin may rightfully jileatl. Several of her 
works, and esjoecially the very pleasing Memoirs of the 
Eeign of James the First, have fully entitled her to the 
privileges enjoyed by good writers. One of those privi- 
leges we hold to be this, that such writers, when, either 
from the unlucky choice of a subject, or from the indo- 
lence too often produced by success, they happen to fail, 
shall not be subjected to the severe discipline which it is 
sometimes necessary to inflict upon dunces and impostors, 
but shall merely be reminded by a gentle touch, like that 
with which the Laputan flapper roused his dreaming lord, 
that it is high time to wake.^ 

3. Our readers will probably infer from what we have 
said that Miss Aikin's book has disappointed us. The 
truth is, that she is not well acquainted with her subject. 
No person who is not familiar with the political and liter- 
ary history of England during the reigns of William the 
Third, of Anne, and of George the First, can possibly 
write a good life of Addison.^ Now, we mean no reproach 

in which she figures as a knight in arn?or with an enchanted sword, she 
shows the prowess of a warrior. In the adventure here referred to, her 
hand in marriage is to be the prize of the contest. Unknown to her- 
self her own lover is her disguised antagonist. He purposely' blunts j 
the edge of his sword with a hammer, that he may not injure his liege 
lady. The duty alluded to was his promise to fight as the representa- 
tive of another prince. 

The champions of the romances of chivalry had names for their 
swords, as well as for their horses. Compare Arthur's sword Excali- 
bur, Orlando's Durindana, Siegfried's Nothung. 

' Gulliver's Travels, Part III., Ch. 2. "Those persons [in Laputa] 
who are able to afford it always keep a flapper in their family. The 
business of this officer is, gently to stroke the mouth of him who is to 
speak, and the right ear of him to whom the speaker addresses himself." ' 

^ Macaulay's History of England from the Accession of James II. 
was intended to cover this ground (1688-1727) but was broken off at 
the death of "William III. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 3 

to Miss Aikin, and many will think that we pay her a com- 
pliment, Avlien we say that her studies have taken a differ- 
ent direction. She is better acquainted with Shakspeare 
and Ealeigh/ than with Congreve and Prior 2; and is far 
more at home among the ruffs and peaked beards of Theo- 
bald's,^ than among the Steenkirks and flowing periwigs ^ 
which surrounded Queen Anne's tea table ^ at Hampton. 
She seems to have written about the Elizabethan age, be- 
cause she had read much about it ; she seems, on the other 
hand, to have read a little about the age of Addison, be- 
cause she had determined to write about it. The conse- 
quence is that she has had to describe men and things 
without having either a correct or a vivid idea of them, 
and that she has often fallen into errors of a very serious 
kind. The reputation which Miss Aikin has justly earned 
stands so high, and the charm of Addison's letters is so 



' 'Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), the famous English navigator and 
t courtier of Queen Elizabeth. 

'William Congreve (1672-1729), a writer of comedies which are dis- 
tinguished for wit and for fine character-drawing, but which were, like 
other plays of the day, immoral and heartless. Matthew Prior (1664- 
1721), a poet, wit, and Tory politician. See Ward's Evglish Poets. 
« " Ruffs, projecting muslin bands round the neck, worn in the six- 
teenth century. Theobald's, the seat of Lord Burleigh, Elizabeth's 
prime-minister. 

* Or Steinkirk, a large cravat of fine lace, loosely knotted, with one 
end passed through the buttonhole. The cravat commemorates by its 
name the disordered and hasty dress of the young French nobles at the 
battle of Steenkerke (1692). Periwigo, or perukes, immense wigs 
covered with curls, worn from 1660 to 1725 by all gentlemen in full 
dress. A reminiscence of this fashion is still to be seen in the big wig 
of the English Lord Chancellor. 

" Tea was first known in England about 1660 ; it became a fashion- 
able beverage in Queen Anne's time. Cf. Pope's familiar couplet, 
" Imperial Anna, whom three realms obey ; who sometimes counsel 
takes, and sometimes tea." Hampton Court, the palace built by Cardi- 
nal Wolsey, was a favorite residence of Queen Anne. 



4 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

great, that a second edition of this work may probably be 
required. If so, we hope that every paragraj)h will be re- 
vised, and that every date and fact about which there can 
be the smallest doubt will be carefully verified. 

4. To Addison himself we are bound by a sentiment as 
much like affection as any sentiment can be, which is in- 
spired by one who has been sleeping a hundred and twenty 
years in AVestminster Abbey. We trust, however, that this 
feeling will not betray us into that abject idolatry which 
we have often had occasion to reprehend in others, and 
which seldom fails to make both the idolater and the idol 
ridiculous. A man of genius and virtue is but a man. All 
his powers cannot be equally developed ; nor can we expect 
from him perfect self-knowledge. We need not, therefore, 
hesitate to admit that Addison has left us some compo- 
sitions which do not rise above mediocrity, some heroic 
poems hardly equal to Parnell's,^ some criticism as super- 
ficial as Dr. Blair's,^ and a tragedy not very much better 
than Dr. Johnson's.^ It is praise enough to say of a writer 
that, in a high department of literature, in which many 
eminent writers have distinguished themselves, he has 
had no equal ; and this may with strict justice be said of 
Addison. 

5. As a man, he may not have deserved the adoration 
which he received from those who, bewitched by his fas- 
cinating society, and indebted for all the comforts of life 

§§ 4-5. A guarded estimate of Addison as a writer^ and an enthusi- 
astic judgment of his character as a man. 

'Thomas Parnell (1679-1717), an Irish poet, author of the Hermit 
and other poems. 

2 Hugh Blair (1718-1800), a Scotch preacher. He wrote a famous 
rhetoric, and became the leading authority on this subject in tiie eigh- 
teenth century. His critical faculty may be measured by the fact that 
he believed in the genuineness of Ossian's poems. 

^ Dr. Johnson wrote a tragedy called Irene. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 5 

to his generons aud delicate friendshii), worshipped him 

• nightly, in his favourite temple at Button's.^ But, after full 
inquiry and impartial reflection, we have long been con» 
vinced that he deserved as much love and esteem as can 
be justly claimed by any of our infirm and erring race. 

■ Some blemishes may undoubtedly be detected in his char- 
, acter ; but the more carefully it is examined, the more will 

it ajipear, to use the phrase of the old anatomists, sound 

■ in the noble parts,^ free from all taint of perfidy, of coward- 
ice, of cruelty, of ingratitude, of envy. Men may easily be 
named, in whom some particular good disposition has been 
more conspicuous than in Addison. But the just harmony 

' of qualities, the exact temper between the stern and the 
humane virtues, the habitual observance of every law, not 
only of moral rectitude, but of moral grace and dignity, dis- 
tinguish him from all men who have been tried by equally 

• strong temptations, and about whose conduct we possess 
' equally full information. 

' 6. His father was the Reverend Lancelot Addison, who, 

p though eclipsed by his more celebrated son, made some 

^- figure in the world, and occupies with credit two folio 

' pages in the Biograj^hia Britannica.^ Lancelot was sent 
up, as a poor scholar, from Westmoreland to Queen's Col- 

f lege, Oxford, in the time of the Commonwealth,'* made 

■' some i^rogress in learning, became, like most of his fellow 

^ students, a violent Royalist, lampooned the heads of the 

' §§ 6. Sketch of Addison: s father (1632-1703). 

' Button's, a favorite coffee-house, established by a servant of Ad- 
dison's. 

^ Tlie heart, liver, lungs, and brain ; the vital organs, 

" ^ Biographja Bj-itannica, a hook published in 1766, containing the 

' lives of many distinguished Britons. 

' "* 1649-1660 Oxford was held and fortified by the King during the 
Civil War, but was captured by Cromwell. The collegians were gen- 
erally on the King's side, though Hampden, Pym, Eliot, and other great 
Puritans were Oxford men. After the war. Parliament sent a com- 



6 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

University, and was forced to ask pardon on his bended 
knees. When he had left college, he earned a humble sub- 
sistence by reading the liturgy of the fallen Church ^ to the 
families of those sturdy squires whose manor ^ houses were 
scattered over the Wild of Sussex.^ After the Restoration, 
his loyalty was rewarded with the post of chajDlaih to the 
garrison of Dunkirk.^ When Dunkirk was sold to France, 
he lost his employment. But Tangier ^ had been ceded by 
Portugal to England as part of tiie marriage portion of the 
Infanta Catharine ^ ; and to Tangier Lancelot Addison was 
sent. A more miserable situation can hardly be conceived. 
It was difficult to say whether the unfortunate settlers 
were more tormented by the heats or by the rains, by the 
soldiers within the wall or by the Moors'' without it. One 
advantage the chaplain had. He enjoyed an excellent op- 
portunity of studying the history and manners of Jews and 
Mahometans ; and of this opportunity he appears to have 
made excellent use. On his return to England, after some 

mission to reform the University. Cromwell himself was " Chancel- 
lor" for seven years (1651-1G58). 

' Cromwell suppressed Episcopal worship (1G55), but zealous Episco- 
palians continued to worship in private. 

= The manors of England were originally estates of landlords, each 
with a village of serfs or laborers upon it. On these manorial estates 
was the manor-house, the house of the baron, or, in modern English, 
the " squire." 

= "Wild (or " weald," an Anglo-Saxon word meaning forest) of Sussex, 
the northern part of the county. 

• ■'Dunkirk (Dunkerque), a city in Flanders, ceded to England in 
1658, and bought back by the French in 1662. 

^ Tangier, the principal commercial city of Morocco. It had be- 
longed to Portugal since 1471. 

* Catherine of Braganza, who married Charles II. The daughter of a 
Spanish or Portuguese sovereign is called " Infanta." 

' All the inhabitants of Morocco are inaccurately called Moors, al- 
though at present there are many Berbers, negroes, Arabs, as well a« 
Jews and European natives among them. 



ESSAY 0i7 ADDISON 7 

years of banishment, he published an interesting volume 
on the Polity and Religion of Barbary, and another on the 
Hebrew Customs and the State of Rabbinical Learning. 
He rose to eminence in his profession, and became one of 
the royal chaplains, a Doctor of Divinity, Archdeacon of 
Salisbury, and Dean of Lichfield. It is said that he would 
have been made a bishop after the Revolution,^ if he had 
not given offence to the government by strenuously oppos- 
ing, in the Convocation^ of 1689, the liberal policy of 
William and Tillotson. 

7. In 1672, not long after Dr. Addison's return from 
Tangier, his son Joseph was born. Of Joseph's childhood 
we know little. He learned his rudiments at schools in his 
t father's neighbourhood, and was then sent to the Charter 
House.^ The anecdotes which are popularly related about 
his boyish tricks do not harmonize very well with what we 
know of his riper years. There remains a tradition that 
he was the ringleader in a barring out,^ and another tra- 
dition that he ran away from school and hid himself in 
a wood, where he fed on berries and slept in a hollow tree, 
till after a long search he was discovered and brought 
home. If these stories be true, it would be curious to 

§§ 7-9. Addison^s youth and education. 

* The fliglit of James II. and succession of William III. (1688). 

3 The assembly representing the clergy of the Church of England. 
It was called together by William III. in 1689 to consider a plan for 
admitting the Presbyterians and other Dissenters into the church. 
Tillotson (1630-169-i), Archbishop of Canterbury, a great English 
preacher, was head of the Low-church party in this reign. 

3 One of the great public schools of England, originally founded as 
a Carthusian monastery in London in 1371. The school has gone to 
Surrey, but the buildings are to-day used for a charity-school in charge 
of the Merchant Taylors. 

^ Barricading the school-house against the masters when a school 
seeks redress of grievances. See a famous instance in Miss Edge- 
worth's Parent's Assistant. 



8 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

know by what moral discipline so nintinons and enterpris- 
ing a lad was transformed into the gentlest and most mod- 
est of men. 

8. We have abundant proof that, whatever Joseph's 
pranks may have been, he pursued his studies vigorously 
and successfully. At fifteen he was not only fit for the 
university, but carried thither a classical taste and a stock 
of learning which would have done honour to a Master of 
Arts.^ He was entered at Queen's College, Oxford ; but he 
had not been many months there, when some of his Latin 
verses fell by accident into the hands of Dr. Lancaster, 
Dean of Magdalene College.^ The young scholar's diction 
and versification were already such as veteran professors 
might envy. Dr. Lancaster was desirous to serve a boy of 
such promise ; nor was an opportunity long wanting. The 
Revolution ^ had just taken place ; and nowhere had it been 
hailed with more delight than at Magdalene College. That 
great and opulent corporation had been treated by James, 
and by his Chancellor,^ with an insolence and injustice 
which, even in such a Prince and in such a Minister, may 
justly excite amazement, and which had done more than 
even the prosecution of the Bishops to alienate the Church 
of England from the throne. A president, duly elected, 
had been violently expelled from his dwelling : a Papist ^ 
had been set over the society by a royal mandate : the Fel- 
lows Avho, in conformity with their oaths, had refused to 

■ The well-known academical degree, granted to one who had mastered 
the Liberal Arts in the mediaeval universities ; now it is given by col- 
leges and universities at the conclusion of certain courses of higher 
study, or more carelessly as an honorary mark of general merit. 

^ Pronounced " Maudlin " The Oxford spelling is Magdalen. It is 
one of the most beautiful of the Oxford colleges. 

= Of 1(588. 

*The notorious Jeffreys. For all this history, see Macaulay's Eng- 
land, vol. III., chap. VIII 

* The current term of opprobrium for a Roman Catholic. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 9 

submit to this usurper, had been driven forth from their 
quiet cloisters and gardens, to die of want or to live on 
charity. But the day of redress and retribution speedily 
came. The intruders were ejected : the venerable House 
was again inhabited by its old inmates : learning flourished 
under the rule of the wise and virtuous Hough ; and with 
learning was united a mild and liberal spirit too often 
wanting in the princely colleges of Oxford. In conse- 
quence of the troubles through which the society had 
passed, there had been no valid election of new members 
during the year 1688. In 1689, therefore, there was twice 
• the ordinary number of vacancies ; and thus Dr. Lancaster 
found it easy to procure for his young friend admittance 
to tlie advantages of a foundation then generally esteemed 
the wealthiest in Europe. 

9. At Magdalene Addison resided during ten years. 
He was, at first, one of those scholars who are called Dem- 
ies,^ but was subsequently elected a fellow. His college 
is still proud of his name : his portrait still hangs in the 
hall ; and strangers are still told that his favourite walk 
was under the elms which fringe the meadow on the banks 
of the Cherwell.^ It is said, and is highly probable, that 
he was distinguished among his fellow students by the del- 
icacy of his feelings, by the shyness of his manners, and by 
the assiduity with which he often prolonged his studies 
far into the night. It is certain that his reputation for 
ability and learning stood high. Many years later, the 
ancient Doctors of Magdalene continued to talk in their 

' Demy, accented on the last syllable, a name of uncertain origin, 
given the scholars of Magdalen only Each college and school in Eng- 
land loves to have its own peculiar terminology for the usual academic 
functions. Thus, the heads of different colleges are called Master, 
President, and Warden in the same university. 

^ The pretty river on which the pleasure-boating and swimming of 
young Oxford is still done. 



10 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

common room of his boyish comjjositions, and expressed 
their sorrow tha-i no copy of exercises so remarkable had 
been preserved. 

10. It is proper, however, to remark that Miss Aikin has 
committed the error, very pardonable in a lady, of over- 
rating Addison's classical attainments. In one depart- 
ment of learning, indeed, his proficiency was such as it is 
hardly possible to overrate. His knowledge of the Latin 
poets, from Lncretins and Catullus down to Claudian and 
Prudentius,^ was singularly exact and profound. He un- 
derstood them thoroughly, entered into their spirit, and 
had the finest and most discriminating perception of all 
their peculiarities of style and melody ; nay, he copied their 
manner with admirable skill, and surpassed, we think, all 
their British imitators who had preceded him, Buchanan ^ 
and Milton alone excepted. This is high praise ; and be- 
yond this we cannot with justice go. It is clear that Ad- 
dison^s serious attention, during his residence at the uni- 
versity, was almost entirely concentrated on Latin poetry, 
and that, if he did not wholly neglect other provinces of 
ancient literature, he vouchsafed to them only a cursory 
glance. He does not appear to have attained more than an 
ordinary acquaintance with the political and moral writers 
of Home ; nor was his own Latin prose by any means equal 
to his Latin verse. His knowledge of Greek, though 

§§ 10-16. Miss Aikin has overestimated Addison's scholarship ; 
curious limitations of his reading. 

' T. Lucretius Cams (96-55 i$.c.). He wrote a great poem (Oti the 
Universe) to set forth the principles of the Epicurean philosophy. C. 
Valerius Catullus (87-54 B.C.), a writer of beautiful lyric verses. 
These two are the earliest Latin poets of whose Avorks any large 
amount remains (if we except the comedies of Tlautus and Terence). 
They are about contemporary withCassar. Claudianus (circa 365 a.d.) 
and Prudentius (circa 400) represent the latest classical Latin poetry. 

2 George Buclianan, tutor of Mary Queen of Scots and James VI. 
He wrote Latin poems and a paraphrase of the Psalms. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON H 

doubtless snch as was, in his time, thought respectable 
at Oxford, was evidently less than that which many lads 
now carry away every year from Eton and Rugby. A 
minute examination of his works, if we had time to make 
such an examination, would fully bear out these remarks. 
We will briefly advert to a few of the facts on which our 
judgment is grounded. 

11. Great praise is due to the Notes which Addison ap- 
pended to his version of the second and third books of the 
Metamorphoses.^ Yet those notes, while they show him to 
have been, in his own domain, an accomplished scholar, 
show also how confined that domain was. They are rich 
in aj^ijosite references to Virgil,^ Statius,^ and Claudian ; 
but they contain not a single illustration drawn from the 
Greek poets. Now, if, in the whole compass of Latin 
literature, there be a passage which stands in need of illus- 
tration drawn from the Greek poets, it is the story of Pen- 
theus in the third book of the Metamorphoses. Ovid was 
indebted for that story to Euripides'* and Theocritus,^ both 
of whom he has sometimes followed minutely. But neither 
to Euripides nor to Theocritus does Addison make the 
faintest allusion ; and we, therefore, believe that we do 
not wrong him by su^jposiug that he had little or no knowl- 
edge of their works. 

12. His travels in Italy, again, abound with classical 

' Tlie title of the principal work of the Roman poet, P. Ovidius Naso 
(43 B.C.-17 A.D.), a collection of all the stories of " transformations " 
in Greek mythology. 

2 P. Vergilius Maro (70-19 b.c.)? author of the national Roman 
Epic, the ^^neid, the Georgics, a didactic poem on farm-life, and the 
Bucolics, a set of short poems, imitations from the Greek " shepherd's 
poetry " or pastorals. 

^ Publius Statins (45-96 a.d.), author of the Thebais. 

* Euripides, the third Athenian tragedian. 

s Theocritus (270 B.C.), a writer of Greek pastorals. 



12 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

quotations happily introduced ; but scarcely one of those 
quotations is in prose. He draws more illustrations from 
Ausouius ^ and Manilius ^ than from Cicero. Even his 
notions of the political and military affairs of the Romans 
seem to be derived from poets and poetasters. Spots made 
memorable by events which have changed the destinies of 
the world, and which have been worthily recorded by great 
historians, bring to his mind only scraps of some ancient 
versifier. In the gorge of the Apennines he naturally re- 
members the hardships which Hannibal's army endured, 
and proceeds to cite, not the authentic narrative of Poly- 
bius,^ not the picturesque narrative of Livy,"* but the lan- 
guid hexameters of Silius Italicus.^ On the banks of the 
Rubicon^ he never thinks of Plutarch's''' lively description, 
or of the stern conciseness of the Commentaries,^ or of 
those letters to Atticus^ which so forcibly express the alter- 
nations of hope and fear in a sensitive mind at a great 

'D. Magnus Ausonius (310-394 a.d.), a Latin Christian poet. 

^ M. Manilius (date uncertain), a writer of a Latin iwcm on as- 
tronomy. 

^Polybius (204-125 B.C.), a celebrated Greek who was taken to Rome 
as a prisoner and there became interested in the Romans. He wrote 
a great history of Rome in forty books, five of which we have. 

■•Titus Livius (59 B.C.-17 a.d.) wrote a history of Rome in one 
hundred and forty-two books, thirty-five of which we have. 

^Silius Italicus (25 a.d.) wrote an epic poem on the Punic war, 
still existing. His poetry is full of Italian geographical names. 

« A river separating Italy proper from Cisalpine Gaul. Caesar, 
whose province in Gaul ended at the Rubicon, broke the law by carry- 
ing his army across into Italy. 

' Plutarch, (46 a.d.) a Greek historian, who wrote forty-six Parallel 
Lives of eminent Greeks and Romans. This refers to his story of 
Julius Caesar's crossing the Rubicon in his Life of Casar. 

* As a matter of fact, it is Cajsar's Civil War he ought to think of on 
the banks of the Rubicon, a much more interesting book than the 
Commentaries. 

* Cicero's most intimate friend. A number of letters from Cicero to 
him are preserved. 



ESS AT ON ADDISON 13 

crisis. His only authority for the events of the civil war 
is Lucan.^ 

13. All the best ancient works of art at Eome and Flor- 
ence are Greek. Addison saw them, however, without re- 
calling one single verse of Pindar,^ of Calliniachus/ or of 
the Attic dramatists ; but they brought to his recollection 
innumerable passages of Horace,* Juvenal,^ Statins, and 
Ovid. 

14. The same may be said of the Treatise on Medals. ° 
In that pleasing work we find about three hundred passages 
extracted with great judgment from the Roman poets ; but 
we do not recollect a single jaassage taken from any Roman 
orator or historian ; and we are confident that not a line 
is quoted from any Greek writer. No person, who had de- 
rived all his information on the subject of medals from 
Addison, would suspect that the Greek coins were in his- 
torical interest equal, and in beauty of execution far supe- 
rior to those of Rome. 

15. H it were necessary to find any further proof that 
Addison's classical knowledge was confined within narrow 
limits, that proof would be furnished by his Essay on the 
Evidences of Christianity. Tlie Roman poets throw little 
or no light on the literary and historical questions which he 
is under the necessity of examining in that Essay. He is, 

' M. Annffius Lucaniis (39-65 a.d.), autlror of a poem in ten books 
on the Civil War. 

= Pindar, a great Theban poet (522 8.0.-443 b.c ). 

' Callimachus (about 260 b.c), a famous Alexandrian critic and poet. 

*Quimus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 b.c), the famous Roman lyric 
poet. 

*D. Junius Juvenalis (60-140 a.d.), the great Roman satirist. 

* A book by Addison. '' Medal " was used in Addison's time to indi- 
cate ancient coins, especially in the precious metals. Now it means 
rather a coin struck to commemorate something, not to be used as 
money. 



14 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

therefore, left completely in the dark ; and it is melan- 
choly to see how helplessly he gropes his way from blunder 
to blunder. He assigns, as grounds for his religious belief, 
stories as absurd as that of the Cock-Lane ghost,^ and for- 
geries as rank as Ireland's Vortigern,^ puts faith in the lie 
about the Thundering Legion,^ is convinced that Tiberius ^ 
moved the senate to admit Jesus among the gods, and pro- 
nounces the letter of Agbarus King of Edessa^ to be a rec- 
ord of great authority. Nor were these errors the effects 
of superstition ; for to superstition Addison was by no 
means prone. The truth is that he was writing about 
what he did not understand. 

16. Miss Aikin has discovered a letter, from which it 
appears that, while Addison resided at Oxford, he was one 
of several writers whom the booksellers engaged to make 
an English version of Herodotus ; ^ and she infers that he 
must have been a good Greek scholar. AVe can allow very 

' A famous ghost, a " luminous lady," accompanied by knockings 
and strange noises, who appeared in London in 1702. She was a fraud, 
but Dr. Johnson made her famous by investigating and believing. 

^ Voi-tigern and Roivena, a play written by William Henry Ireland, 
and published in his famous forged Shakespearian manuscripts. He 
actually wrote this whole play in "Shakespeare's autugrapli," and it was j 
put on the stage in 1796 by Kemble. ■ 

3 A Christian legion in the army of the Roman emperor, Marcus ij 
Aurelius. Its prayer for rain was answered by a thunder storm which 
destroyed numbers of the enemy. The legend is made to account 
for a name for a legion wliich was common enough in the Roman 
armies. 

« Tiberius Claudius Nero (42 B.C.-37 a.d.), the Roman emperor un- 
der whom the Crucifixion occurred. TertuUian told this story in the 
second century, a.d. 

^ Eusebius, an early Christian father, relates that this king wrote a 
letter to Christ, asking him to come and heal him, and that Christ 
wrote an answer. Both letters are given by Eusebius. 

8 Herodotus (480-434 b.c), the great Greek historian of the Persian 
wars. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 



15 



little weight to this argument, when we consider that his 
, fellow-labourers were to have been Boyle ^ and Blackmore.^ 
Boyle is remembered chiefly as the nominal author of the 
, worst book on Greek history and philology that ever was 
printed ; and this book, bad as it is, Boyle was unable to 
produce without help. Of Blackmore's attainments in 
the ancient tongues, it may be sufficient to say that, in his 
prose, he has confounded an aphorism ^ with an apoph- 
thegm, and that when, in his verse, he treats of classical 
subjects, his habit is to regale his readers with four false 
quantities ^ to a page. 

17. It is probable that the classical acquirements of Ad- 
dison were of as much service to him as if they had been 
more extensive. The world generally gives its admiration, 
not to the man who does what nobody else even attempts 
to do, but to the man who does best what multitudes do 
well. Bentley^was so immeasurably superior to all the 
other scholars of his time that few among them could dis- 
cover his superiority. But the accomplishment in which 
Addison excelled his contemporaries was then, as it is now, 

§ 17-20. Ms Latin Poetry. 

' Charles Boyle (1676-1731), afterwards Earl of Orrery. The book 
referred to is a publication on the controversy over the Epistles of 
Phalaris with the great Bentley. See Macaulay's Essay on Sir Will- 
iam Temple^ and Swift's Battle of the Books. 

''Sir Richard Blackmore (1650-1729), a physician and long-winded 
poet. 

3 An aphorism is a definition or short sentence expressing some im- 
portant truth of a speculative sort. An apophthegm or apothegm is 
simply a proverb or maxim. The distinction is a very slight one. 

* It is the special anxiety of English scholarship to distinguish accu- 
rately the long and short Latin vowels. Many good stories illustrate 
the English intolerance of a " false quantity." 

^Richard Bentley (1662-1742), the greatest of English classical 
Bcholars and critics, master of Trinity College, Cambridge. See his 
life by Dr. Jebb, in the English Men of Letters Series. 



16 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

highly vakied and assiduously cultivated at all English seats 
of learning. Every body who had been at a public school ^ 
had written Latin verses ; many had written such verses 
with tolerable success, and were quite able to appreciate, 
though by no means able to rival, the skill with which Ad- 
dison imitated Virgil. His lines on the Barometer and 
the Bowling Green were applauded by hundreds, to whom 
the Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris ^ was as unin- 
telligible as the hieroglyphics on an obelisk. 

18. Purity of style, and an easy flow of numbers, are 
common to all Addison's Latin poems. Our favourite piece 
is the Battle of the Cranes and Pygmies ; for in that piece 
we discern a gleam of the fancy and humour which many 
years later enlivened thousands of breakfast tables. Swift ^ 
boasted that he was never known to steal a hint ; and he 
certainly owed as little to his predecessors as any modern 
writer. Yet we cannot help suspecting that he borrowed, 
perhaps unconsciously, one of the happiest touches in his 
Voyage to Lilliput from Addison's verses. Let our read- 
ers judge. 

19. " The Emperor," says Gulliver, "is taller by about 
the breadth of my nail than any of his court, which alone 
is enough to strike an awe into the beholders." 

' In England, certain great schools like Eton, Harrow, and Rugby are 
endowed for public instruction, but since Addison's time tbey have 
been in the hands of the wealthy and titled classes only. Then, as now, 
the pupils of these schools spent most of their time upon classical 
learning, which thus became a mark of social prestige in England. 
The old pupils of the public schools played the chief part in the Eng- 
lish Church and State in Addison's day, as they now conduct the affairs 
of the British Empire. 

^ Bentley's great work, establishing the true date of the Greek 
book of letters, falsely attributed to Phalaris, Tyrant of Sicily, 550 

B.C. 

^Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), Addison's friend and rival. See In- 
troduction. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON . 17 

20. About thirty years before Gulliver's Travels ap- 
peared, Addison wrote these lines : 

" Jamque acies inter medias sese arduus infert 
Pygmeadum ductor, qui, majestate verendus, 
Incessuque gravis, reliquos supereminet omnes 
Mole gigantea, mediamque exsurgit in ulnam." » 

21. The Latin poems of Addison were greatly and justly 
admired both at Oxford and Cambridge, before his name 
had ever been heard by the wits who thronged the coffee- 
houses round Drnry Lane theatre.^ In his twenty-second 
year, he ventured to appear before the public as a writer of 
English verse. He addressed some complimentary lines to 
Dryden,^ who, after many triumphs and many reverses, 
had at length reached a secure and lonely eminence among 
the literary men of that age. Dryden appears to have 
been much gratified by the young scholar's praise ; and an 
interchange of civilities and good offices followed. Addi- 
son was probably introduced by Dryden to Congreve,^ and 

§§21-26. English poetry of that day. Addison's first attempts. 

' " And now between the battle lines advances the lofty leader of the 
Pygmies, who, terrible in his majesty and solemn in stop, o'ertops all 
the rest with his gigantic mass, and rises aloft to the height of one's 
elbow." 

* In Addison's time the principal theatre of London, situated in the 
fashionable quarter, where Russell Street now is. It had been rebuilt 
after the great fire by Sir Christopher Wren. In the next generation, 
Garrick was the manager. 

3 John Dryden (1631-1700), another of the great men of Trinity 
College, where Macaulay was educated. Dryden's great translation of 
Virgil was published in 1697, but parts had previously appeared in 
1693 in a magazine. It was upon the excellence of this work that Ad- 
dison complimented him in a little poem ; Dryden in return printed 
Addison's discourse on the Georgics of Virgil, as a preface to his own 
translation, and introduced him to his own publisher, Tonson, who 
thereafter employed him. 

* William Congreve, the great writer of comedy at this time. See 
page 92. 



18 ESSAY ON ADDISON' 

was certainly presented by Congreve to Charles Montague,^ 
who was then Chancellor of the Excheqner^^ and leader of 
the Whig party ^ in the House of Commons. 

22. At this time Addison seemed inclined to devote him- 
self to poetry. He published a translation of part of the 
fourth Georgic/ Lines to King William/ and other per- 
formances of equal value, that is to say, of no value at all. 
But in those days, the public was in the habit of receiving 
with applause pieces which would now have little chance 
of obtaining the Newdigate prize or the Seatonian prize. ^ 
And the reason is obvious. The heroic couplet '' was then 
the favourite measure. The art of arranging words in that 

» Charles Montague, first Earl of Halifax (1661-1715), an English 
statesman, financier, and poet, one of the most brilliant of the gradu- 
ates of Trinity, Cambridge. See Introduction. 

^ A name applied to that department of the government of Great Brit- 
ain which has charge of all matters relating to the revenue. The head 
of it is called the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He is necessarily a 
member of the House of Commons, which alone can lay taxes, but is 
a most important member of the so-called Cabinet, being in charge of 
the government finance. The person here alluded to is Montague. 
The word "exchequer" is an old Norman name, derived from the 
chequered cloth which covered the original table where the officers of 
the Norman kings transacted the financial business of the court. 

' The origin of this party name is variously given. It was applied 
to the party of liberal principles in England from about the time of 
Charles II. to the Reform Bill of 1832. 

■* Georgics, Virgil's four books on the art of agriculture. 

* Addison's friends, Somers and Montague, persuaded him to write, 
in 1695, this piece of civility to the king, who being a most unpoetic 
monarch, took no notice of it whatever. 

" Sir Roger Newdigate founded an annual prize at Oxford Univer- 
sity for the best English poem. The Seaton prize is given for the 
same purpose at Cambridge. The standard of prize poems is proverbi- 
ally not high, though Tennyson, Newman, and Heber took such prizes. 

' Heroic couplet, a pair of ten syllable iambic lines, like this : 
" Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring 
Of woes unnumbered, heavenly goddess, sing ! " 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 19 

measure, so that the lines may flow smoothly, that the ac- 
cents may fall correctly, that the rhymes may strike the 
ear strongly, and that there may be a pause at the end of 
every distich, is an art as mechanical as that of mending a 
kettle or shoeing a horse, and may be learned by any hu- 
man being who has sense enough to learn any thing. But, 
like other mechanical arts, it was gradually improved by 
means of many experiments and many failures. It was re- 
served for Pope to discover the trick, to make himself com- 
plete master of it, and to teach it to every body else. From 
the time when his Pastorals ^ appeared, heroic versification 
became matter of rule and compass ; and, before long, all 
artists were on a level. Hundreds of dunces who never 
blundered on one hapj^y thought or expression were able 
to write reams of couplets which, as far as euphony was 
concerned, could not be distinguished from those of Pope 
himself, and which very clever writers of the reign of 
Charles the Second, Eochester,^ for example, or Marvel,^ or 
Oldham,'* would have contemplated with admiring despair, 
23. Ben Jonson ^ was a great man, Hoole ^ a very small 

I The first published poem of Alexander Pope (1688-1744). It ap- 
peared in Tonson's 3Iiscellanies^ in 1709. 

» John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (1647-1680), poet and courtier of 
Charles II., writer of witty verse. He is now best remembered for 
this epigram : 

" Here lies our sovereign lord the king, 
Whose word no man relies on ; 
Who never said a foolish thing, 
And never did a wise one." 

3 Andrew Marvel or Marvell (1621-1678), Milton's friend and secre- 
tary, on the Parliamentary side. He wrote satires on Charles I. and 
an Horatian Ode to Cromwell. 

^ John Oldham (1653-1683), a writer of satires on the Jesuits. The 
writers of the Restoration affected wit and point rather than sentiment. 

* Ben Jonson (1578-1637), Shakespeare's friend. He wrote chiefly 
plays, masques, and such entertainments. 

"John Hoole (1727-1803), a rather mechanical maker of translations 
of Tasso, Ariosto, and other Italian poets. 



20 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

man. But Hoole, coming after Poi^e, had learned how to 
manufacture decasyllable verses, and jioured them forth by 
thousands and tens of thousands, all as well turned, as 
smooth, and as like each other as the blocks which have 
passed through Mr. Brunei's^ mill in the dockyard at 
Portsmouth. Ben's heroic couplets resemble blocks rude- 
ly hewn out by an unpractised hand, with a blunt hatchet. 
Take as a specimen his translation of a celebrated passage 
in the ^neid : 

" This child our parent earth, stirr'd up with spite 
Of all the gods, brought forth, and, as some write, 
She was last sister of that giant race 
That sought to scale Jove's court, right swift of pace, 
And swifter far of wing, a monster vast 
And dreadful. Look, how many plumes are placed 
On her huge corpse, so many waking eyes 
Stick underneath, and, which may stranger rise 
In the report, as many tongues she wears." a 

24. Compare with these Jagged misshapen distichs the 
neat fabric which Hoole's machine produces in unlimited 
abundance. We take the first lines on which we open in 
his version of Tasso. They are neither better nor worse 
than the rest : 

" O thou, whoe'er thou art, whose steps are led, 
By choice or fate, these lonely shores to tread, 
No greater wonders east or west can boast 
Than yon small island on the pleasing coast. 
If e're thy sight would blissful scenes explore. 
The current pass, and seek the further shore." 

25. Ever since the time of Pope there has been a glut of 
lines of this sort ; and we are now as little disposed to admire 
a man for being able to write them, as for being able to write 

> Mark Isambard Brunei (1769-1849) made block-pulleys for ships 
in a mill at Portsmouth, He was a great engineer and mechanical 
genius. 

' J&Tiett?, Book IV., 178-183. The verses are from Jonson's Poetaster. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 21 

his name. But in the days of William the Third such 
versification was rare ; and a rhymer who had any skill in 
it passed for a great poet, just as in the dark ages a person 
who could write his name passed for a great clerk. Accord- 
ingly, Duke, Stepney, Granville, Walsli,^ and others whose 
only title to fame was that they said in tolerable metre what 
might have been as well said in prose, or what was not 
worth saying at all, were honoured with marks of distinc- 
tion which ought to be reserved for genius. With these 
Addison must have ranked, if he had not earned true and 
lasting glory by performances which very little resembled 
his juvenile poems. 

26. Dryden was now busied with Virgil, and obtained 
from Addison a critical preface to the Georgics. In return 
for this service, and for other services of the same kind, 
the veteran poet, in the postscript to the translation of the 
^neid, complimented his young friend with great liberal- 
ity, and indeed with more liberality than sincerity. He 
affected to be afraid that his own performance would not 
sustain a comparison with the version of the fourth 
Georgic, by "the most ingenious Mr. Addison of Oxford." 
" After his bees," added Dryden, " my latter swarm is 
scarcely worth the hiving." 

27. The time had now arrived when it was necessary for 
Addison to choose a calling. Every thing seemed to point 
his course towards the clerical profession. His habits were 
regular, his opinions orthodox. His college had large ec- 
clesiastical preferment ^ in its gift, and boasts that it has 
given at least one bishop to almost every see ^ in England. 

§§ 27-28. Circumstances which determined Addison'' s career. Com- 
parison of England in 1697 with France in 1830. 

' A group of minor poets of the times of Charles II. and James II. 

» In England, a place or office in the Church. 

' See, a form of the word " seat," came to mean usually the seat of 
a bishop ; hence the office and authority of a bishop, a bishopric. 



22 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

Dr. Lancelot Addison held an honourable place in the 
Church, and had set his heart on seeing his son a clergy- 
man. It is clear, from some expressions in the young 
man's rhymes, that his intention was to take orders.^ But 
Charles Montague interfered. Montague had first brought 
himself into notice by verses, well timed and not contempt- 
ibly written, but never, we think, rising above mediocrity. 
Fortunately for himself and for his country, he early quitted 
poetry, in which he could never have attained a rank as 
high as that of Dorset^ or Rochester, and turned his mind 
to official and parliamentary business. It is written that 
the ingenious person who undertook to instruct Rasselas," 
prince of Abyssinia, in the art of flying, ascended an emi- 
nence, waved his wings, sprang into the air, and instantly 
dropped into the lake. But it is added that the wings, 
which were unable to support him through the sky, bore 
him up effectually as soon as he was in the water. This is 
no bad type of the fate of Charles Montague, and of men 
like him. When he attempted to soar into the regions of 
poetical invention, he altogether failed ; but, as soon as he 
had descended from that ethereal elevation into a lower and 
grosser element, his talents instantly raised him above the 
mass. He became a distinguished financier, debater, cour- 
tier, and party leader. He still retained his fondness for 
the pursuits of his early days ; but he showed that fond- 
ness not by wearying the public with his own feeble per- 
formances, but by discovering and encouraging literary 
excellence in others. A crowd of wits and poets, who 

'Orders, again, has an ecclesiastical use, — the rank and degree of 
clergyman, " holy orders." 

"Charles Sackville (1637-1706), Earl of Dorset, man of letters and 
poet. See Ward's English Poets. 

' Johnson's romantic tale, published In 1759, describing the life of 
an imaginary Prince Rasselas, brought up in a " Happy Valley " of 
Abyssinia, shut oflf from the evils of this world. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 23 

would easily have vanquished him as a competitor, revered 
him as a judge and a patron. In his plans for the en- 
couragement of learning, he was cordially supported by 
the ablest and most virtuous of his colleagues, the Lord 
Chancellor Somers.* Though both these great states- 
men had a sincere love of letters, it was not solely from 
a love of letters that they were desirous to enlist youth 
of high intellectual qualifications in the public service. 
The Kevolution had altered the whole system of govern- 
ment. Before that event the press had been controlled 
by censors,^ and the Parliament had sat only two 
months in eight years. Now the press was free, and had 
begun to exercise unprecedented influence on the public 
mind. Parliament met annually and sat long. The chief 
power in the State had passed to the House of Commons. 
At such a conjuncture, it was natural that literary and 
-oratorical talents should rise in value. There was danger 
that a Government which neglected such talents might 
be subverted by them. It was, therefore, a profound and 
enlightened policy which led Montague and Somers to at- 
tach such talents to the Whig party, by the strongest ties 
both of interest and of gratitude. 

38. It is remarkable that in a neighbouring country, we 
have recently seen similar effects follow from similar causes. 
The Revolution of July, 1830, established representative 

' John, Baron Somers (1652-1716), the great English jurist and states- 
man of the reigns of James II., William and Mary, and Anne. See 
Introduction. 

2 All over Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, regula- 
tions were in force whereby manuscripts, printed books, plays, and 
other publications were examined b}' officials, who suppressed any part 
or the whole of any rritings obnoxious to the government. See the 
references to the Areopu,gitica in Macaulay's Essay on Milton. This 
censorship was practically abolished in England in 1694 and in Ger- 
many in 1848 ; in Russia it still obtains. There has never been any 
censorshij) of the press in the United States. 



24 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

government in France. The men of letters instantly rose 
to the highest imiDortance in the state. At the present 
moment most of the persons whom we see at the head both 
of the Administration and of the Opposition have been Pro- 
fessors, Historians, Journalists, Poets. ^ The influence of 
the literary class in England, during the generation which 
followed the Kevolution, was great, but by no means so 
great as it has lately been in France. For, in England, 
the aristocracy of intellect had to contend with a power- 
ful and deeply rooted aristocracy of a very different kind. 
France has no Somersets ^ and Shrewsburies ^ to keep down 
her Addisons and Priors. 

29. It was in the year 1699, when Addison had just com- 
pleted his twenty-seventh year, that the course of his life 
was finally determined. Both the great chiefs of the Min- 
istry were kindly disposed towards him. In political opin- 
ions he already was what he continued to be through life, 
a firm, though a moderate Whig. He had addressed the 
most polished and vigorous of his early English lines to 
Somers, and had dedicated to Montague a Latin poem, 

§§ 29-34. Addison's travels in France. His interview with Boileau. 
A disciissio7i of modern Latin verse. 

' The revolution of 1830 was, so to speak, headed br newspaper men 
and writers ; it was a revolution of the middle classes against the aris- 
tocracy. Some men of the literary type concerned in it were Thiers, 
Casirair Perier, Guizot, and Chateaubriand. It put upon the throne 
Louis Philippe as a sort of constitutional monarct. He was king of 
France at the date (1843) at which Macaulay was writing, but was 
driven out by the more democratic Revolution of 1848. 

^ Duke of Somerset, one of the great Tory nobles, who, however, as- 
sisted at the coronation of William and Mary. 

= Charles Talbot (1660-1718), twelfth Earl and first and only Duke 
of Shrewsbury, one of the highest of the English nobles, who joined 
in the invitation of William to England. Ee held various offices of 
state under William and Anne, and in 1714, as Lord High Treasurer, 
secured the succession of the House of Hanjver by proclaiming George 
I. King of England. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 25 

I truly Virgilian, both in style and rhythm, on the peace of 
( Ryswick. ^ The wish of the young poet's great friends was, 

f it should seem, to employ him in the service of the crown 

H abroad. But an intimate knowledge of the French lan- 

Ignagewas a qualification indispensable to a diplomatist; 

, and this qualification Addison had not acquired. It was, 

therefore, thought desirable that he should pass some time 

on the Continent in preparing himself for official employ- 

• ment. His own means were not such as would enable him 

to travel ; but a pension of three hundred pounds a-year 

II was procured for him by the interest of the Lord Chancel- 
lor.2 It seems to have been apprehended that some diffi- 

■ culty might be started by the rulers of Magdalene College. 
But the Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote in the strong- 
est terms to Hough. The State — such was the purport 
-of Montague's letter — could not, at that time, spare to 
,the Church such a man as Addison. Too many high civil 
posts were already occupied by adventurers, who, destitute 
fof every liberal art and sentiment, at once pillaged and 
disgraced the country which they pretended to serve. It 
had become necessary to recruit for the public service from 
a very different class, from that class of which Addison 
was the representative. The close of the Minister's letter 
•was remarkable. ''lam called," he said, "an enemy of 
the Church. But I will never do it any other injury than 
keeping Mr. Addison out of it." 

, 30. This interference was successful ; and, in the sum- 
mer of 1699, Addison, made a rich man by his pension, 

' Between Louis XIV. and the Allies, in 1697. ■ 

' In Great Britain the highest law officer of the Crown. The word 
originally meant one who stood at the chancel, or railing round the 
'throne of an emperor, to keep order among the suitors and who cared 
for the sealing and signing of decrees. Out of this office developed the 
great officials of church and state called chancellors. The chancellor 
here referred to is of course Somers. 



26 ESS AT ON ADDISON 

and still retaining his fellowship, quitted his beloved Ox- 
ford, and set out on his travels. He crossed from Dover 
to Calais, proceeded to Paris, and was received there with 
great kindness and politeness by a kinsman of his friend 
Montague, Charles Earl of Manchester, who had just been 
appointed Ambassador to the Court of France. The 
Countess, a Whig and a toast,^ was probably as gracious 
as her lord ; for Addison long retained an agreeable recol- 
lection of the impression which she at this time made on 
him, and, in some lively lines written on the glasses of 
the Kit Cat ^ Club, described the envy which her cheeks, 
glowing with the genuine bloom of England, had excited 
among the painted beauties of Versailles. 

31. Lewis the Fourteenth^ was at this time expiating 
the vices of his youth by a devotion which had no root in 
reason, and bore no fruit of charity. The servile litera- 
ture of France had changed its character to suit the 
changed character of the prince. No book appeared that 
had not an air of sanctity. Eacine,'* who was just dead, 
had passed the close of his life in writing sacred dramas ; 
and Dacier ^ was seeking for the Athanasian ^ mysteries in 

* A person whose health is drunk (see Tatler^ No. 24), especially a 
woman. 

2 The Kit Cat Club flourished from 1703 to 1733. Its meetings were 
held at the " Cat and Fiddle," an inn kept by Christopher Cat. The 
Spectator (No. 9) derives the name of the club from the mutton-pies, 
there called " kitcats." Steele, Addison, Oxford, and other clever 
people were members, including most of the cliiefs of the Whig party. 
The corresponding Tory club was called the " October." 

^For Louis XIV., see Introduction. 

* Racine (1639-1699), the classic French poet. Among his most cele- 
brated pieces are Andromaque, Iphigenie, Phedre (from Greek subjects), 
and at this time of piety, two from the Bible, Esther and Athalie. 

^Dacier (1651-1722), a French classical scholar, translator of Plato, 
Horace, Aristotle, etc. 

* Saint Athanasius (296-373 a.d.) secured by his eloquence and zeal, 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 27 

(Plato. Addison described this state of things in a short 
sbut lively and graceful letter to Montague. Another let- 
ter, written about the same time to the Lord Chancellor, 
iconveyed the strongest assurances of gratitude and at- 
tachment. " The only return I can make to your Lord- 
fehip," said Addison, "will be to apply myself entirely 
to my business." AVitli this view he quitted Paris and 
repaired to Blois, a place where it was supposed that 
ithe French language was spoken in its highest purity, 
and where not a single Englishman could be found. 
[Here he passed some months pleasantly and profitably. 
ttOf his way of life at Blois, one of his associates, an 
Abbe ^ named Philippeaux, gave an account to Joseph 
Spence.^ If this account is to be trusted, Addison studied 
much, mused much, talked little, had fits of absence, and 
teither had no love affairs, or was too discreet to confide 
:them to the Abbe. A man who, even when surrounded 
tby fellow countrymen and fellow students, had always been 
liremarkably shy and silent, was not likely to be loquacious 
ein a foreign tongue, and among foreign companions. But 
lit is clear from Addison's letters, some of which were long 
after published in the Guardian,^ that, while he appeared 
to be absorbed in his own meditations, he was really ob- 
serving French society with that keen and sly, yet not ill- 
'■natured side glance, which was jjeculiarly his own. 

though often at the risk of his own life, the adoption of the Nicene 
creed, hoth at the General Council of Nicea (325 a.d.) and elsewhere. 
Hence his name is associated with all Trinitarian doctrine. 

> This word was originally the French for Ahbot, the head of a mon- 
astery ; it then became a title for any person enjoying the revenues of 
a monastery, and finally was assumed by persons who had studied 

(theology, practised celibacy, and wore a peculiar dress, but had not, 
' strictly speaking, any formal connection with the church, figuring 
! chiefly as private tutors in great houses. 

[■ * Joseph Spence (1699-17(38) published a very interesting book of 
anecdotes of great writers. He was professor of poetry at Oxford. 
3 Nos. 101 and 104. 



28 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

32. From Blois he returned to Paris ; and, having now- 
mastered the French language, found great pleasure in the 
society of French philosophers and poets. He gave an 
account, in a letter to Bishop Hough, of two highly inter- 
esting conversations, one with Malbranche,^ the other with 
Boileau.2 Malbranche expressed great partiality for the 
English, and extolled the genius of Newton, but shook his 
head when Hobbes^ was mentioned, and was indeed so 
unjust as to call the author of the Leviathan a poor silly 
creature. Addison's modesty restrained him from fully 
relating, in his letter, the circumstances of his introduc- 
tion to Boileau. Boileau, having survived the friends and 
rivals of his youth, old, deaf, and melancholy, lived in re- 
tirement, seldom went either^ to Court or to the Academy,^ 
and was almost inaccessible to strangers. Of the English 
and of English literature he knew nothing. He had hardly 
heard the name of Dryden, Some of our countrymen, in 
the warmth of their patriotism, have asserted that this 
ignorance must have been affected. We own that we see 
no ground for such a supposition. English literature was 
to the French of the age of Lewis the Fourteenth what 
German literature was to our own grandfathers. Very 
few, we suspect, of the accomplished men who, sixty or 

' A French metaphysician (1G38-1715) teaching a philosophic panthe- 
ism, expressed in the most beautiful French style. His great work is 
Recherche de la Verite. 

* Nicolas Boileau (1636-1711), a famous French critic and poet. He 
wrote a series of satires and a book called L'Art Poetique, which was 
the foundation of the literary criticism in France of his day, and 
which exercised great influence on the English taste also. 

^ Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), an English philosopher, author of the 
Leviathan^ which showed that the power of the state is absolute against 
the individual, as the leviathan swallows all other animals. It is a 
quaint name for a powerful book on social questions. 

*The French Academy was founded in 1635 by Eichelieu. It is a 
learned society, chiefly employed as the official guardian of the French 
language and literature. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 20 

iseventy years ago, used to dine in Leicester Square with 
Sir Joshua,* or at Streatham with Mrs. Thrale,"^ had the 
slightest notion that Wieland ^ was one of the first wits and 
,|)oets, and Lessing,^ beyond all dispute, the first critic in 
{Europe. Boileau knew just as little about the Paradise 
Lost, and about Absalom and Ahitophel^; but he had 
read Addison's Latin poems, and admired them greatly. 
They had given him, he said, quite a new notion of the 
.state of learning and taste among the English. Johnson 
,,will have it that these praises were insincere. " Nothing," 
says he, "is better known of Boileau than that he had an 
|injudicious and peevish contempt of modern Latin ; and 
therefore his profession of regard was probably the elfect 
of his civility rather than approbation." Now, nothing is 
; better known of Boileau than that he was singularly spar- 
ging of compliments. We do not remember that either 
friendship or fear ever induced him to bestow praise on 
;any composition which he did not approve. On literary 
^questions, his caustic, disdainful, and self-confident spirit 
.rebelled against that authority to which everything else in 
] France bowed down. He had the spirit to tell Lewis the 
.Fourteenth firmly and even rudely, that his Majesty knew 
^nothing about poetry, and admired verses which were de- 

■ » Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), the great English painter. He 
*Vas the friend of Johnson, Burke, Garrick, and Goldsmith, who are 
here alluded to. 

^Mrs. Thrale (1741-1821), an educated English lady, the friend of 
these same eminent men and particularly intimate with Johnson. See 
Macaulay's Life of Johnson. 

'Wieland (1733-1813), a German poet and professor. His best 
known poem is called Oheron. 

^Lessing (1729-1781), a German dramatist and critic. His great 
' work was done in criticism of the drama ; but his best known book, 
Laocoon, is a treatise on fine art. His plays, Nathan der WeisCt 
'Emilia Galoiti, etc., are also famous. 
^ * A great political satire of Dryden's. 



30 £!SSAr ON ADDISON 

testable. What was there in Addison's position that could 
induce the satirist, whose stern and fastidious temper had 
been the dread of two generations, to turn sycophant for 
the first and last time ? Nor was Boileau's contempt of 
modern Latin either injudicious or peevish. He thought, 
indeed, that no poem of the first order would ever be 
written in a dead language. And did he think amiss ? 
Has not the experience of centuries confirmed his opin- 
ion ? Boileau also thought it probable that, in the best 
modern Latin, a writer of the Augustan age would have 
detected ludicrous improprieties. And who can think 
otherwise ? What modern scholar can honestly declare 
that he sees the smallest impurity in the style of Livy ? 
Yet is it not certain that, in the style of Livy, Pollio,^ 
whose taste had been formed on the banks of the Tiber, 
detected the inelegant idiom of the Po ? Has any mod- 
ern scholar understood Latin better than Frederic the 
Great ^ understood French ? Yet is it not notorious 
that Frederic the Great, after reading, speaking, writ- 
ing French, and nothing but French, during more 
than half a century, after unlearning his mother 
tongue in order to learn French, after living familiarly 
during many years with French associates, could not, to 
the last, compose in French, without imminent risk of 
committing some mistake which would have moved a 
smile in the literary circles of Paris ? Do we believe that 

' C. Asinius Pollio (76 b.c.-G a.d.), a Eoman politician of the party 
of Caesar and Antony, a friend of Virgil and Horace, and an impor- 
tant Latin author. He wrote a history of the Civil War. This remark 
of liis about Livy's " Patavinity," i.e., his use of a Latin such as they 
spoke in Patavium or Padua, where Livy was born, has interested 
modern scholars. He refers probably to Livy's romantic turn for 
strong and picturesque rather than accepted and elegant phrases, aa 
one might mention a Scotch poetic flavor in an English author. 

=" Frederic the Second of Prussia (1712-1786). See Carlyle's Life, 
and Macaulay's Essay on Frederick the Great. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 31 

Erasmus^ and Fracastorius- wrote Latin as well as Dr. 
Robertson^ and Sir Walter Scott wrote Englisli ? And 
are there not in the Dissertation on India^ the last of Dr. 
Robertson's works, in Waverley, in Marmion, Scotticisms 
at which a London apprentice would laugh ? But does it 
follow, because we think thus, that we can find nothing 
to admire in the noble alcaics * of Gray,^ or in the play- 
ful elegiacs'* of Vincent Bourne ?^ Surely not. Nor was 
Boileau so ignorant or tasteless as to be incapable of ap- 
preciating good modern Latin. In the very letter to 
which Johnson alludes, Boilean says — " Ne croyez pas 
pourtant que je veuille par la blamer les vers Latins que 
vous m'avez envoyes d'un de vos illustres academiciens. 
Je les ai trouves fort beaux, et dignes de Vida'' et de San- 
nazar,^ mais non pas d'Horace et de Virgile."^ Several 

. ' Erasmus (1465-1536), the Dutch scholar. His great writings are 
,the Colloquies and Encomium, Moria. 

* Fracastorius (1483-1553), a learned Italian. 

» William Robertson (1721-1793), a Scotch historian. His greatest 

work is his well known History of Charles V. 

' * The measures invented by the Greek poet Alcasus are called 
lAlcaics. Horace used them frequently. See Tennyson's poem on 
(Milton. Elegiac verse is composed of couplets, containing one hex- 
'.ameter line and one pentameter line. It was much used by classic 

poets for love-songs and lamentations. See Coleridge for a model : 

. " In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column ; 

In the pentameter aye falling in melody back." 

' » Thomas Gray (1716-1771), scholar and professor of history at Cam- 
bridge. He refused to be made " poet laureate." His letters are 
'rery good reading, as well as his better known poetry. 

* An English writer of Latin verse in the eighteenth century. He 
was a teacher in Westminster School, and chiefly remembered as the 
instructor of the poet Cowper. 

' Vida (1480-1566), an Italian writer of Latin poetry. 
8 Sannazaro (1458-1530), an Italian of Spanish descent, father of the 
modern pastoral. 

» " Do not think, however, that I would wish to criticise unfavorably 



32 ESS AT ON ADDISON 

poems, in modern Latin, have been praised by Boilean 
quite as liberally as it was his habit to praise anything. 
He says, for example, of the Pere Fraguier's ^ epigrams, 
that Catullus seems to have come to life again. But the 
best proof that Boileau did not feel the undiscerning con- 
tempt for modern Latin verses which has been imputed to 
him, is, that he wrote and published Latin verses in several 
metres. Indeed it hapjjens, curiously enough, that the 
most severe censure ever pronounced by him on modern 
Latin is conveyed in Latin hexameters. We allude to the 
fragment which begins — 

" Quid nuraeris iterum me balbutire Latinis, 
Longe Alpes citra natum de patre Sicarabro, 
Musa, Jubes? "'■' 

33. For these reasons we feel assured that the praise 
which Boileau bestowed on the 3Iachin(B Gesticulantes,^ 
and the Gerano-PygmcBomaehia,^ was sincere. He cer- 
tainly opened himself to Addison with a freedom which 
was a sure indication of esteem. Literature was the chief 
subject of conversation. The old man talked on his 
favourite theme much and well, indeed, as his young 
hearer thought, incomparably well. Boileau had un- 
doubtedly some of the qualities of a great critic. He 
wanted imagination ; but he had strong sense. His liter- 
ary code was formed on narrow principles ; but in apply- 
ing it, he showed great judgment and penetration. In 
mere style, abstracted from the ideas of which style is the 

the Latin verses you have sent me of one of your illustrious Academi- 
cians. I have found them very pretty, and worthy of Vida and San- 
nazaro, but not of Horace and Virgil." 

' Fraguier (1666-1728), a French Jesuit. 
. » " Why do you ask me again, O Muse, to stammer in Latin meas- 
ures, me the son of a Sigambrian father, born far beyond the Alps." 

• " Puppet Shows." 

* " The Battle of the Pygmies and Cranes." 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 33 

garb, his taste was excellent. He was well acquainted 

■ with the great Greek writers ; and, though unable fully to 
appreciate their creative genius, admired the majestic 

' simplicity of their manner, and had learned from them to 

■ despise bombast and tinsel. It is easy, we think, to dis- 
' cover, in the Spectator and the Guardian, traces of the 
' influence, in part salutary and in part pernicious, which 

the mind of Boileau had on the mind of Addison. 

J 34. While Addison was at Paris, an event took place 

'- which made that capital a disagreeable residence for an 

Englishman and a Whig. Charles, second of the name. 

King of Spain, died ; and bequeathed his dominions to 

Philip, Duke of Anjou, a younger son of the Dauphin. 

The King of France, in direct violation of his engagements 

; both with Great Britain and with the States General,^ ac- 

^cepted the bequest on behalf of his grandson. The house 

.of Bourbon was at the summit of human grandeur. Eng- 

[land had been outwitted, and found herself in a situation 

'at once degrading and perilous. The people of France, 

tnot presaging the calamities by which they were destined 

to expiate the perfidy of their sovereign, went mad with 

pride and delight. Every man looked as if a great estate 

had just been left him. " The French conversation," said 

Addison, " begins to grow insupportable ; that which was 

before the vainest nation in the world is now worse than 

ever." Sick of the arrogant exultation of the Parisians, 

and probably foreseeing that the peace between France 

and England could not be of long duration, he set off 

for Italy. 

35. In December, 1700,^ he embarked at Marseilles. 

§§ 35-41. Addison's travels in Italy. 

' The representative assembly of the seven provinces of the Dutch 
Republic. 

* It is strange that Addison should, in the first line of his travels, 
have misdated his departure from Marseilles by a whole year, and still 
3 



34 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

As he glided along the Ligurian ^ coast, he was delighted 
by the sight of myrtles and olive trees, which retained their 
verdure under the winter solstice. Soon, however, he en- 
countered one of the black storms of the Mediterranean. 
The captain of the ship gave up all for lost, and confessed 
himself to a capuchin ^ who happened to be on board. The 
English heretic,^ in the mean time, fortified himself against 
the terrors of death with devotions of a very dilferent kind. 
How strong an impression this perilous voyage made on 
him, appears from the ode, " How are thy servants blest, 
Lord ! " which was long after published in the Specta- 
tor. After some days of discomfort and danger, Addison 
was glad to land at Savona, and to make his way, over 
mountains where no road had yet been hewn out by art, to 
the city of Genoa. 

36. At Genoa, still ruled by her own Doge,* and by the 
nobles whose names were inscribed on her Book of Gold,^ 
Addison made a short stay. He admired the narrow streets 
overhung by long lines of towering palaces, the walls rich 
with frescoes,^ the gorgeous temple of the Annunciation, 
and the tapestries whereon were recorded the long glories of 

more strange that this slip of the pen, which throws the whole narra- 
tive into inextricable confusion, should have been repeated in a suc- 
cession of editions and never detected by Tickell or by Hard. [Ma- 
caulay's note.] 

' Liguria, the country south of the maritime Alps in the northwest 
corner of Italy. Modern Nice, Mentone, Genoa, and the Riviera in 
general represent the Ligurian coast. 

' Capuchin, an order of monks, named from their peculiar cowl. 

' Heretic, one who holds religious opinions contrary to the estab- 
lished belief. In Italy, all Protestants must be heretics. 

* An Italian form of the word " duke ; " the title of the chief mag- 
i.3trates of Genoa as well as of Venice. They were at first elected for 
life by the republic, afterwards for two years only. 

* The list of the nobility, old and new, from whom the governors 
might be taken. 

•Fresco, a painting on walls covered with plaster. The word is 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 35 

the house of Doria.^ Thence he hastened to Milan, where 
he contemplated the Gothic magnificence of the cathedral ^ 
with more wonder than pleasure. He passed Lake Bena- 
cns ^ while a gale was blowing, and saw the waves raging 
as they raged when Virgil looked upon them. At Ven- 
ice, then the gayest spot in Europe, the traveller spent 
the Carnival,* the gayest season of the year, in the 
midst of masques,^ dances, and serenades. Here he was at 
once diverted and provoked, by the absurd dramatic pieces 
which then disgraced the Italian stage. To one of those 
pieces, however, he was indebted for a valuable hint. He 
was present when a ridiculous play on the death of Cato ® 
was performed. Cato, it seems, was in love with a daughter 
of Scipio. The lady had given her heart to Caesar. The 
rejected lover determined to destroy himself. He appeared 
seated in his library, a dagger in his hand, a Plutarch and 
a Tasso before him ; and, in this position, he pronounced 
a soliloquy before he struck the blow. We are surprised 
that so remarkable a circumstance as this should have es- 
caped the notice of all Addison's biographers. There can- 
not, we conceive, be the smallest doubt that this scene, in 
spite of its absurdities and anachronisms,' struck the trav- 

strictly applicable only to the process of painting in colors on wet plaster 
which dries with the color. But it is now used of all wall painting. 

' Andrea Doria, the liberator of Genoa from French dominion in 
1528, and founder of the republic, which lasted till this century. 

^ Addison's opinion of the cathedral is perfectly just. 

^ The Lago di Garda. 

* Carnival, the season of rejoicing before Lent begins, observed in 
Catholic countries. 

5 Any festive entertainment where the performers wore masks. See 

' Marcus Porcius Cato, the patriotic opponent of Caesar, who com- 
mitted suicide when he heard of Caesar's victory at Thapsus. The death 
of this hero was also the subject of Addison's drama. 

' /.c, with regard to Plutarch and Tasso. 



36 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

eller*s imagination, and suggested to him the thought 
of bringing Cato on the English stage. It is well known 
that about this time he began his tragedy, and that he fin- 
ished the first four acts before he returned to England. 

37. On his way from Venice to Rome, he was drawn some 
miles out of the beaten road, by a wish to see the smallest 
independent state in Europe. On a rock where the snow 
still lay, though the Italian spring was now far advanced, 
was perched the little fortress of San Marino.^ The roads 
which led to the secluded town were so bad that few 
travellers had ever visited it, and none had ever published 
an account of it. Addison could not suppress a good- 
natured smile at the simple manners and institutions of 
this singular community. But he observed, with the ex- 
ultation of a Whig, that the rude mountain tract which 
formed the territory of the republic swarmed with an 
honest, healthy, and contented peasantry, while the rich 
plain which surrounded the metropolis of civil and spirit- 
ual tyranny^ was scarcely less desolate than the uncleared 
wilds of America. 

38. At Rome Addison remained on his first visit only 
long enough to catch a glimpse of St. Peter's ^ and of the 
Pantheon.'* His haste is the more extraordinary because 
the Holy Week^ was close at hand. He has given no hint 
which can enable us to pronounce why he chose to fly from 

' A republic, now fifteen hundred years old, of thirty-two square 
miles, with a population of six thousand. 

2 Rome. 

" St. Peter's, the cathedral church of the Roman see. Built according 
to Michael Angelo's designs in the sixteenth century and dedicated in 
1626. 

'' Pantheon, a building at Rome constructed by Agrippa in 27 b.c. in 
honor of the Julian family. It is now a Christian church. The interior 
is lighted entirely by a circular opening in the roof, and the walls are 
encrusted with marble. 

* The week before Easter. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 37 

a spectacle whicli every year allures from distant regions 
persons of far less taste and sensibility than his. Possibly, 
travelling, as he did, at the charge of a Government dis- 
tinguished by its enmity to the Church of Rome, he may 
have thought that it would be imprudent in him to assist 
at the most magnificent rite ^ of that Church. Many eyes 
would be upon him ; and he might find it difficult to be- 
have in such a manner as to give offence neither to his 
patrons in England, nor to tiios« among whom he resided. 
Whatever his motives may have been, he turned his back 
on the most august and affecting ceremony which is 
known among men, and posted ^ along the Appian ^ way 
to Naples. 

39. Naples was then destitute of what are now, perhaps, 
its chief attractions. The lovely bay and the awful moun- 
tain were indeed there. But a farmhouse stood on the 
theatre of Herculaneum,'' and rows of vines grew over the 
streets of Pompeii.^ The temples of Passtum ^ had not in- 
deed been hidden from the eye of man by any great con- 
vulsion of nature ; but, strange to say, their existence was 
a secret even to artists and antiquaries. Though situated 
within a few hours' journey of a great capital, where Sal- 

' This refers to the Easter masses at St. Peter's. 

»/.e., travelled by post-horses. 

' The Roman road, running from Rome to Brundisium, begun and 
named by Appius Claudius (312 B.C.). Near Rome it is lined with 
tombs and other memorials of antiquity. 

* Herculaneum, an ancient city of Campania, south of Naples, directly 
at the foot of Vesuvius. It was entirely covered by the eruption of 
79 A.D. with lava and ashes ; it was rediscovered in 1709, by a farmer 
sinking a well. 

'Pompeii, a much larger town, was first found in 1748. Excavations 
were, however, never regularly or properly condiicted till this cen- 
tury. 

« Paestum, an ancient city of Lucania, south of Naples. It was not 
known to modern scholars till 1745. 



38 USSA7 ON ADDISON 

vator ^ had not long before painted, and where Vico "^ was 
then lecturing, those noble remains were as little known 
to Europe as the ruined cities overgrown by the forests of 
Yucatan.^ AVhat was to be seen at Naples, Addison saw. 
He climbed Vesuvius, explored the tunnel of Posilipo,'* 
and wandered among the vines and almond trees of 
Caprese.^ But neither the wonders of nature, nor those of 
art, could so occupy his attention as to prevent him from 
noticing, though cursorily, the abuses of the government 
and the misery of the people. The great kingdom which 
had just descended to Philip the Fifth,^ was in a state of 
paralytic dotage. Even Castile and Aragon were sunk in 
wretchedness. Yet, compared with the Italian dependen- 
cies of the Spanish crown, Castile and Aragon might be 
called prosperous. It is clear that all the observations 
which Addison made in Italy tended to confirm him in the 
political opinions which he had adopted at home. To 
the last, he always spoke of foreign travel as the best 
cure for Jacobitism.' In his Freeholder,^ the Tory fox- 
hunter asks what travelling is good for, except to teach 
a man to jabber French, and to talk against passive 
obedience. 

40. From Naples, Addison returned to Rome by sea, 
along the coast which his favourite Virgil had celebrated. 



' Salvator Rosa (1615-1673), a painter of Naples, fond of picturesque 
and romantic subjects. 

2 Vico (1668-1744), an Italian jurist and professor at Naples. 

' Yucatan was once the home of the Mayas, a race who reached a 
high state of civilization, and left cities full of interesting architecture 
not yet thoroughly explored or understood. 

* Posilipo, a famous cave near Naples. 

^ Caprete, or Capri, a beautiful island in the bay of Naples. 

• See Macaulay's essay on the War of the Succession. 

' Support of the Stuart family, whose heir was James III- 
« See § 130. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 39 

The felucca ^ passed the headhxud where the oar and trum- 
pet were phxced by the Trojan adventurers on the tomb of 
Misenus,^ and anchored at night under the shelter of the 
fabled promontory of Circe. ^ The voyage ended in the 
Tiber, still overhung with dark verdure, and still turbid 
with yellow sand, as when it met the eyes of ^Eneas. 
From the ruined port of Ostia, the stranger hurried to 
Kome ; and at Rome he remained during those hot and 
sickly months when, even in the Augustan age, all who 
could make their escape fled from mad dogs and from streets 
black with funerals, to gather the first figs of the season in 
the country.^ It is probable that, when he, long after, 
poured forth in verse his gratitude to the Providence which 
had enabled him to breathe unhurt in tainted air, he was 
thinking of the August and September which he passed at 
Rome. 

41. It was not till the latter end of October that he tore 
himself away from the masterpieces of ancient and modern 
art which are collected in the city so long the mistress of 
the world. He then journeyed northward, passed through 
Sienna, and for a moment forgot his prejudices in favour 
of classic architecture as he looked on the magnificent 
cathedral. At Florence he spent some days with the Duke 
of Shrewsbury, who, cloyed with the pleasures of ambi- 
tion, and impatient of its pains, fearing both parties, and 
loving neither, had determined to hide in an Italian re- 
treat talents and accomplishments which, if they had been 
united with fixed principles and civil courage, might have 

' A long, narrovy vessel with two masts, rigged with lateen sails, and 
capable also of being rowed, used in the Mediterranean. 

" See Virgil's ^^neid, book VI., 234. jEneas's trumpeter was buried 
on the headland of Misenuni. 

^ Circe, the goddess whose potions transformed wayfarers into 
beasts. See Odyssey, X., and Mneid, VII., 1-24. 

•* This is a description by Juvenal of summer in Rome. 



40 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

made him the foremost man of his age. These days, we 
are told, passed pleasantly ; and we can easily believe it. 
For Addison was a delightful companion when he was at 
his ease ; and the Duke, though he seldom forgot that he 
was a Talbot, had the invaluable art of pntting at ease all 
who came near him. 

42. Addison gave some time to Florence,^ and especially 
to the sculptures in the Museum, which he preferred even 
to those of the Vatican. He then pursued his journey 
through a country in which the ravages of the last war 
were still discernible, and in which all men were looking 
forward with dread to a still fiercer conflict. Eugene ^ had 
already descended from the Rhatian Alps, to dispute with 
Catinat the rich plain of Lombardy. The faithless ruler 
of Savoy ^ was still reckoned among the allies of Lewis. 
England had not yet actually declared war against France : 
but Manchester had left Paris ; and the negotiations which 
produced the Grand Alliance '' against the House of Bour- 
bon were in progress. Under such circumstances, it was 
desirable for an English traveller to reach neutral ground 
without delay. Addison resolved to cross Mont Cenis.' 
It was December ; and the road was very different from 
that which now reminds the stranger of the power and 
genius of Napoleon. The Avinter, however, was mild ; and 

§§42-46. Crosses the Alps. Change of mi7iistry in England. Loss 
of pension. 

" The most beautiful town in North Italy. The sculptures in the 
Uffizzi Museum include the Venus de Medici, the Wrestlers, and a large 
number of portrait statues of Romans. 

"^ See Introduction. 

3 Victor Amadeus II. (1666-1732), first king of Sardinia. See Intro- 
duction. 

<The alliance against Louis XIV. of England, Holland, Austria, and 
other powers. 

5 Mont Cenis, now penetrated by the long railway tunnel leading to 
France and crossed by the splendid military road of Napoleon. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 41 

the passage was, for those times, easy. To this jonrney 
Addison aUuded when, in the ode which we have already 
quoted, he said that for him the Divine goodness had 
warmed the hoary Alpine hills. ^ 

43. It was in the midst of the eternal snow that he com- 
posed his Epistle to his friend Montague, now Lord Hal- 
ifax. That Epistle, once widely renowned, is now known 
only to curious readers, and will hardly be considered by 
those to whom it is known as in any perceptible degree 
heightening Addison's fame. It is, however, decidedly 
superior to any English composition which he had previ- 
ously published. Nay, we think it quite as good as any 
poem in heroic metre which appeared during the interval 
between the death of Dryden and the publication of the 
Essay on Criticism. ^ It contains passages as good as the 
second-rate passages of Pope, and would have added to the 
reputation of Parnell ^ or Prior. "* 

44. But, whatever be the literary merits or defects of 
the Epistle, it undoubtedly does honour to the principles 
and spirit of the author. Halifax had now nothing to 
give. He had fallen from power, had been held up to 
obloquy, had been impeached by the House of Commons, 
and, though his Peers had dismissed the impeachment, 
had, as it seemed, little chance of ever again filling high 
office. The Epistle, written at such a time, is one among 
many proofs that there was no mixture of cowardice or 
meanness in the suavity and moderation which distin- 
guished Addison from all the other public men of those 
stormy times. 

' See above, § 35. 

" Pope's famous poem appeared in 1711. 

' Thomas Parnell (1679-1711), an Irish poet. 

* Matthew Prior ( 1604-172 1), like Addison a poet and a diplomatist, 
but of the opposite party. He was a friend of Montague, with whom 
he wrote the poem called The Country Mouse and City Mouse. 



42 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

45. At Geneva, the traveller learned that a partial 
change of ministry had taken place in England, and that 
the Earl of Manchester had become Secretary of State. ^ 
Manchester exerted himself to serve his young friend. It 
was thought advisable that an English agent should be 
near the person of Eugene in Italy ; and Addison, whose 
dij)lomatic education was now finished, was the man 
selected. He was preparing to enter on his honourable 
functions, when all his jjrospects were for a time darkened 
by the death of William the Tliird.'^ 

46. Anne ^ had long felt a strong aversion, personal, po- 
litical, and religious, to the Whig party. That aversion 
appeared in the first measures of her reign. Manchester 
was deprived of the seals, after he had held them only a 
few weeks. Neither Somers nor Halifax was sworn of the 
Privy Council.^ Addison shared the fate of his three 
patrons. His hopes of employment in the public service 
were at an end ; his pension was stopped ; and it was neces- 
sary for him to support himself by his own exertions. He 
became tutor to a young English traveller,^ and appears to 
have rambled with his pupil over great part of Switzerland 
and Germany. At this time he wrote his pleasing treatise 
on Medals. It was not published till after his death ; but 

' One of the oflBcers of state who manage the departments of the 
government. There are now five : the home, foreign, colonial, war, 
and Indian secretaries. Manchester had been ambassador. See § 30 

^ In 1702. 

^ See Introduction. 

^ The body of advisers of the English sovereign has borne this name 
since the fifteenth century. The cabinet of modern days is simply a 
little committee of tliis privy council, though it has now become the 
governing body of England, responsible to Parliament only. 

* There was a rather interesting correspondence between Addison 
and the Duke of Somerset, who wished to employ him as tutor to his 
son, Lord Hertford. But where he was, and what pupils he had in 
this period, is uncertain. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 43 

several distiDgnished scholars saw the mannscript, and 
gave just praise to the grace of the style, and to the learn- 
ing and ingenuity evinced by the quotations. 

47. From Germany Addison repaired to Holland, where 
lie learned the melancholy news of his father's death. After 
passing some months in the United Provinces,^ he re- 
turned about the close of the year 1703 to England. He 
was there cordially received by his friends, and introduced 
by them into the Kit Cat Club, a society in which were 
collected all the various talents and accomplishments which 
then gave lustre to the Whig party. 

48. Addison was, during some months after his return 
■from the Continent, hard pressed by pecuniary difficulties. 

But it was soon in the power of his noble patrons to serve 
him effectually. A political change, silent and gradual, 
but of the highest importance, was in daily progress. The 
accession of Anne had been hailed by the Tories with 
transports of joy and hope ; and for a time it seemed that 
the Whigs had fallen never to rise again. The throne was 
surrounded by men supposed to be attached to the pre- 
rogative- and to the Church ; and among these none stood 
so high in the favour of the sovereign as the Lord Treas- 
urer Godolphin ^ and the Captain General Marlborough. 

49. The country gentlemen and country clergymen had 
fully expected that the policy of these ministers would be 
directly opposed to that which had been almost constantly 
followed by William ; that the landed interest ^ would be 

§§ 47-60. Return to England. Blenheim. The Campaign. Travels 
in Italy., and Rosamund. 

' The seven provinces of the Low Country, now the Kingdom of 
Holland, formed a league in 1579, which became the Dutch Republic. 

^ Prerogative, privileges belonging to the sovereign, subject to no 
interference from law. 

' For Godolphin, see Introduction. 

* That is, owners of laud, landlords. 



44 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

favoured at the expense of trade ; that no addition would 
be made to the funded debt/ that the privileges conceded 
to Dissenters ^ by the late King would be curtailed, if not 
withdrawn ; that the war with France, if there must be 
such a war, would, on our part, be almost entirely naval ; 
and that the Government would avoid close connections 
with foreign j)owers, and, above all, with Holland. 

50. But the country gentlemen and country clergymen 
were fated to be deceived, not for the last time. The 
prejudices and passions which raged without control in 
vicarages, in cathedral closes, and in the manor-houses of 
foxhunting squires, were not shared by the chiefs of the 
ministry. Those statesmen saw that it was both for the 
public interest, and for their own interest, to adopt a Whig 
policy, at least as respected the alliances of the country 
and the conduct of the war. But, if the foreign policy of 
the Whigs were adopted, it was impossible to abstain from 
adopting also their financial policy. The natural conse- 
quences followed. The rigid Tories were alienated from 
the Government. The votes of the Whigs became neces- 
sary to it. The votes of the Whigs could be secured only 
by further concessions ; and further concessions the Queen 
was induced to make. 

51. At the beginning of the year 1704, the state of parties 
bore a close analogy to the state of parties in 1826. In 
1826, as in 1704, there was a Tory ministry divided into 
two hostile sections. The position of Mr. Canning ^ and 

• The national or public debt, created by Montague. 

2 Dissenters, those who disagree with the Church of England about 
the church-government and ritual, and do not attend the services of 
the established church. 

3 George Canning (1770-1827), a celebrated Englidh statesman of the 
Tory party, who acted with the more liberal section of that party in 
the early part of this century, especially in the foreign relations of 
England. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 45 

his friends in 1826 corresponded to that which Marlborough 
and Godolphin occupied in 1704. Nottingham' and Jer- 
sey/ were, in 1704, what Lord Eldon ^ and Lord Westmore- 
land were in 1826. The Whigs of 1704 were in a situation 
resembling that in which the Whigs of 1826 stood. In 
1704, Somers, Halifax, Sunderland, Cowper,^ were not in 
office. Tliere was no avowed coalition between them and 
the moderate Tories. It is probable that no direct com- 
munication tending to such a coalition had yet taken 
place ; yet all men saw that such a coalition was inevita- 
ble, nay, that it was already half formed. Such, or nearly 
such, was the state of things when tidings arrived of the 
great battle fought at Blenheim on the 13th August, 1704. 
By the Whigs the news was hailed with transports of joy 
and pride. No fault, no cause of quarrel, could be re- 
membered by them against the Commander whose genius 
had, in one day, changed the face of Europe, saved the 
Imperial throne,^ humbled the House of Bourbon, and se- 
cured the Act of Settlement^ against foreign hostility. 
The feeling of the Tories was very different. They could 
not indeed, without imprudence, openly express regret at 
an event so glorious to their country ; but their congratula- 
tions were so cold and sullen as to give deep disgust to the 
victorious general and his friends. 

52. Godolphin was not a reading man. Whatever time 
he could spare from business he was in the habit of spend- 
ing at Newmarket ^ or at the card table. But he was not 

1 Thomas Finch, Earl of Nottingham (1647-1730), though a Tory, 
acted with the Whigs during tlie Revolution of 1688. Villiers, Earl 
of Jersey (1656-1711), did the same. 

'Eldon (1751-1838), the great lord chancellor. 

^For Halifax, etc., see Introduction. 

* That of the Holy Roman Empire. 

* The Act of Parliament settling the Crown of England on the House 
of Hanover. 

* A fashionable racecourse. 



46 ESS AT ON ADDISON 

absolutely indifferent to poetry ; and he was too intelligent 
an observer not to perceive that literature was a formidable 
engine of political warfare, and that the great AVhig lead- 
ers had strengthened their party, and raised their charac- 
ter, by extending a liberal and judicious patronage to good 
writers. He was mortified, and not without reason, by the 
exceeding badness of the poems which appeared in honour 
of the battle of Blenheim. One of these poems has been 
rescued from oblivion by the exquisite absurdity of three 
lines. 

" Think of two thousand gentlemen at least, 

And each man mounted on his capering beast ; 

Into the Danube they were pushed by shoals." 

53. Where to procure better verses the Treasurer did not 
know. He understood how to negotiate a loan, or remit a 
subsidy : he was also well versed in the history of running 
horses and fighting cocks ; but his acquaintance among the 
poets was very small. He consulted Halifax ; but Halifax 
affected to decline the office of adviser. He had, he said, 
done his best, when he had power, to encourage men whose 
abilities and acquirements might do honour to their coun- 
try. Those times were over. Other maxims had prevailed. 
Merit was suffered to pine in obscurity ; and the public 
money was squandered on the undeserving. " I do know," 
he added, "a gentleman who would celebrate the battle in 
a manner worthy of the subject : but I will not name him." 
Godolphin, who was expert at the soft answer which turn- 
eth away wrath, and who was under the necessity of paying 
court to the Whigs, gently replied that there was too much 
ground for Halifax's complaints, but that what was amiss 
should in time be rectified, and that in the mean time the 
services of a man such as Halifax had described should be 
liberally rewarded. Halifax then mentioned Addison, but, 
mindful of the dignity as well as of the pecuniary interest 
of his friend, insisted that the Minister should apply in 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 47 

the most courteons manner to Addison himself ; and this 
Godolphin promised to do. 

54. Addison then occupied a garret up three pair of 
stairs, over a small shop in the Haymarket.^ In this hum- 
ble lodging he was surprised, on the morning which followed 
the conversation between Godolphin and Halifax, by a visit 
from no less a person than the Eight Honourable Henry 
Boyle, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and afterwards 
Lord Carleton.2 This highborn minister had been sent by 
the Lord Treasurer as ambassador to the needy poet. Ad- 
dison readily undertook the proposed task, a task which, to 
so good a Whig, was probably a pleasure. When the poem 
was little more than half finished, he showed it to Godol- 
phin, who was delighted with it, and particularly with the 
famous similitude of the Angel. Addison was instantly 
appointed to a Commissionership ^ worth about two hun- 
dred pounds a year, and was assured that this appointment 
was only an earnest of greater favours. 

55. The Campaign came forth, and was as much admired 
by the public as by the Minister. It pleases us less on the 
whole than the Epistle to Halifax. Yet it undoubtedly 
ranks high among the poems which appeared during the 
interval between the death of Dryden and the dawn of 
Pope's genius. The chief merit of the Campaign, we 
think, is that which was noticed by Johnson, the manly 
and rational rejection of fiction. The first great poet whose 
works have come down to us sang of war long before war 
became a science or a trade. If, in his time, there was en- 
mity between two little Greek towns, each poured forth its 
crowd of citizens, ignorant of discipline, and armed with 

' A market once stood on the land where now is Regent Street and 
the Criterion Theatre. 

' Secretary of State under Anne. 

' He was made commissioner of appeals in the excise, and shortly 
after an under-secretary of State. 



48 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

implements of labour rudely turned into weapons. On 
each side appeared conspicuous a few chiefs, whose wealth 
had enabled them to procure good armour, horses, and 
chariots, and whose leisure had enabled them to practise 
military exercises. One such chief, if he were a man of 
great strength, agility, and courage, would probably be 
more formidable than twenty common men ; and the force 
and dexterity with which he flung his spear might have 
no inconsiderable share in deciding the event of the day. 
Such were probably the battles with which Homer was 
familiar. But Homer related the actions of men of a 
former generation, of men who sprang from the Gods, and 
communed with the Gods face to face, of men, one of 
whom could with ease hurl rocks which two sturdy hinds 
of a later period would be unable even to lift. He there- 
fore naturally represented their martial exploits as resem- 
bling in kind, but far surpassing in magnitude, those of 
the stoutest and most expert combatants of his own age. 
Achilles, clad in celestial armour, drawn by celestial 
coursers, grasping the spear which none but himself could 
raise, driving all Troy and Lycia^ before him, and choking 
Scamander 2 with dead, was only a magnificent exaggeration 
of the real hero, who, strong, fearless, accustomed to the 
use of weapons, guarded by a shield and helmet of the 
best Sidonian ^ fabric, and whirled along by horses of Thes- 
salian* breed, struck down with his own right arm foe 
after foe. In all rude societies similar notions are found. 

' The Lycians were inhabitants of southern Asia Minor and allies of 
the Trojans. 

^ One of the rivers which flowed across the plains about Troy. The 
story alluded to is in the Hiad, Book XXI. 

3 Sidonia, the capital of Phoenicia, thirteen centuries before Christ, 
was famous for its commerce and manufactures, especially of rich 
cloths, splendid colors, and beautiful embroidery. 

* The plains of Thessaly were famous for their horses even in historic 
times. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON- 



49 



Tliere are at this day countries where the Lifegnardsman 
tShaw * would be considered as a much greater warrior than 
tlie Duke of Wellington. Buonaparte loved to describe 
tlie astonishment with which the Mamelukes^ looked at 
his diminutive figure. Mourad Bey, distinguished above 
all his fellows by his bodily strength, and by the skill with 
which he managed his horse and his sabre, could not be- 
lieve that a man who was scarcely five feet high, and rode 
like a butcher, could be the greatest soldier in Europe. 

56. Homer's descriptions of war had therefore as much 
truth as poetry requires. But truth was altogether want- 
ing to the performances of those who, writing about 
battles which had scarcely anything in common with the 
battles of his times, servilely imitated his manner. The 
folly of Silius Italicus,^ in particular, is positively nause- 
ous. He undertook to record in verse the vicissitudes of a 
great struggle between generals of the first order : and his 
narrative is made up of the hideous wounds which these 
generals inflicted with their own hands. Asdrubal flings a 
spear which grazes the shoulder of the consul Nero ; but 
Nero sends his spear into Asdrubal's side. Fabius slays 
Thuris and Butes and Maris and Arses, and the long- 
haired Adherbes, and the gigantic Thylis, and Sapharus 
and Monsesus, and the trumpeter Morinus. Hannibal runs 
Perusinus through the groin with a stake, and breaks the 

' A tall private soldier and pugilist, renowned in story in the early 
part of this century. He killed ten French cuirassiers before he fell 
at Waterloo. 

^ A corps of cavalry, once belonging to the household guards of the 
Sultan in Egypt. They were massacred in a body by Mahomet Ali in 
1811. Mourad Bey commanded them when Bonaparte in 1798 de- 
feated the Mamelukes in the battle of the Pyramids. 

' See § 12. The description here referred to is that of the battle of 
the Metaurus, fought between Hasdrubal and the Carthaginians, and 
the Roman Consuls, Livius and Nero, 207 B.C. The real fight had not 
the slightest resemblance to this tale. 
4 



60 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

backbone of Telesinus with a huge stone. This detestable 
fashion was copied in modern times, and continued to pre- 
vail down to the age of Addison. Several versifiers had 
described William turning thousands to flight by his single 
prowess, and dyeing the Boyne^ with Irish blood. Nay, 
so estimable a writer as John Philips, the author of the 
Splendid Shilling,^ represented Marlborough as having won 
the battle of Blenheim merely by strength of muscle and 
skill in fence. The following lines may serve as an ex- 
ample : 

" Churchill, viewing where 
The violence of Tallard most prevailed, 
Came to oppose his slaughtering arm. With speed 
Precipitate he rode, urging his way 
O'er hills of gasping heroes, and fallen steeds 
Rolling in death. Destruction, grim with blood, 
Attends his furious course. Around his head 
The glowing balls play innocent, while he 
With dire impetuous sway deals fatal blows 
Among the flying Gauls. In Gallic blood 
He dyes his reeking sword, and strews the ground 
With headless ranks. What can they do? Or how 
Withstand his wide-destroying sword ? " 

57. Addison, with excellent sense and taste, departed 
from this ridiculous fashion. He reserved his praise for 
the qualities which made Marlborough truly great, energy, 
sagacity, military science. But, above all, the poet ex- 
tolled the firmness of that mind which, in the midst of ' 
confusion, uproar, and slaughter examined and disposed 
every thing with the serene wisdom of a higher intelligence. , 

58. Here it was that he introduced the famous compar- 

> The battle of the Boyne in Ireland, July 12, 1690, in which WiUiara 
III. conquered James II. 

"John Philips (1676-1708) wrote the Splmdid Shilling and Bleii' 
heim as burlesques on Paradise Lost. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 



51 



I isou of Marlborough to an Angel guiding the whirlwind.* 
,,We will not dispute the general justice of Johnson's re- 
[ marks on this passage.^ But we must point out one cir- 
!,cumstance which appears to have escaped all the critics. 
The extraordinary effect which this simile produced when 
J it first appeared, and which to the following generation 
, seemed inexplicable, is doubtless to be chiefly attributed to a 
, line which most readers now regard as a feeble parenthesis, 
" Such as, of late, o'er pale Britannia pass'd." 

Addison spoke, not of a storm, but of the storm. The 
great tempest of November, 1703, the only tempest which 
in our latitude has equalled the rage of a tropical hurri- 
cane, had left a dreadful recollection in the minds of all 
men. No other tempest was ever in this country the oc- 
casion of a parliamentary address or of a public fast. 
Whole fleets had been cast away. Large mansions had been 
blown down. One Prelate had been buried beneath the 
ruins of his Palace.^ London and Bristol* had presented 

(* " 'Twas then great Marlborough's mighty soul was proved, 
That, in the shock of charging hosts unmoved, 
Amidst confusion, horror, and despair. 
Examined all the dreadful scenes of war ; 
In peaceful thought the field of death surveyed, 
To fainting squadrons sent the timely aid. 
Inspired repulsed battalions to engage. 
And taught the doubtful battle how to rage. 
So when an angel by divine command 
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land. 
Such as of late o'er pale Britannia passed. 
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast ; 
And pleased the Almighty's orders to perform, 
Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm." 

* In the Tatler, Steele had called this simile "one of the noblest 
thoughts that ever entered into the heart of man." Johnson, in his 
Life of Addison, finds the simile exceedingly commonplace. 

3 The Bishop of Bath and Wells. The story is told in Defoe's Storm. 

* Bristol was at this time the second city in England. 



52 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

the appearance of cities just sacked. Hundreds of families 
were still in mourning. The prostrate trunks of large 
trees, and the ruins of houses, still attested, in all the 
southern counties, the fury of the blast. The popularity 
which the simile of the angel enjoyed among Addison's 
contemporaries, has always seemed to us to be a remarkable 
instance of the advantage which, in rhetoric and poetry, 
the particular has over the general. 

59. Soon after the Campaign, was published Addison's 
Narrative of his Travels in Italy. The first effect pro- 
duced by this Narrative was disappointment. The crowd 
of readers who expected politics and scandal, speculations 
on the projects of Victor Amadeus, and anecdotes about 
the jollities of convents and the amours of cardinals and 
nuns, were confounded by finding that the writer's mind 
was much more occupied by the war between the Trojans 
and Rutulians ^ than by the war between France and Aus- 
tria ; and that he seemed to have heard no scandal of later 
date than the gallantries of the Empress Faustina.^ In 
time, however, the judgment of the many was overruled 
by that of the few ; and, befoi-e the book was reprinted, it 
was so eagerly sought that it sold for five times the orig- 
inal price. It is still read with pleasure : the style is pure 
and flowing ; the classical quotations and allusions are nu- 
merous and happy ; and we are now and then charmed by 
that singularly humane and delicate humour in which 
Addison excelled all men. Yet this agreeable work, even 
when considered merely as the history of a literary tour, 
may justly be censured on account of its faults of omis- 
sion. We have already said that, though rich in extracts 
from the Latin poets, it contains scarcely any references to 

I The name of the Italian people who resisted the landing of iEneas. 

* Faustina, the name of two empresses of Rome, mother and daugh- 
ter, wives of Antonius Pius and Marcus Aurelius respectively. They 
both were of evil character. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 53 

the Latin orators and historians. We must add that it 
; contains little, or rather no information, respecting the 
= history and literature of modern Italy. To the best of our 
i remembrance, Addison does not mention Dante, Petrarch, 
'■ Boccaccio, Boiardo, Berni, Lorenzo de' Medici, or Machia- 
■ velli.^ He coldly tells us, that at Ferrara he saw the tomb 
1 of Ariosto, and that at Venice he heard the gondoliers sing 

verses of Tasso.^ But for Tasso and Ariosto he cared far 
< less than for Valerius Flaccus and Sidonius Apollinaris.^ 
• The gentle flow of the Ticin ^ brings a line of Silius to his 
! mind. The sulphurous steam of Albula suggests to him 
'■■ several passages of Martial.^ But he has not a word to say 
! of the illustrious dead of Santa Croce ® ; he crosses the 
i wood of Ravenna without recollecting the Spectre Hunts- 
' man, and wanders up and down Eimini without one 
' thought of Fraucesca.'^ At Paris, he had eagerly sought 

an introduction to Boileau ; but he seems not to have been 

> This catalogue of great Italians may be briefly summarized as fol- 
lows : Dante (1265-1321), one of the greatest of the world's poets, au- 
thor of the Divine Comedy; Petrarch (1304-1374), famous as the 
writer of sonnets to Laura, but hardly less famous as a classical 
scholar ; Boccaccio (1313-1375), novelist, author of the Decameron ; 
Boiardo (1434-1494), author of a great Italian poem, Orlando in 
Love; Berni (1498-1535), autlior of a famous burlesque on the same; 
Lorenzo (1449-1492), the Florentine statesman and man of letters; 
, Machiavelli (1469-1527), another Florentine, author of famous treatises 
on politics and government, especially The Pritice, whose hard-hearted 
maxims of statecraft have made his name a by-word. 

" Ariosto, a great Italian poet (1474-1533), wrote Orlando Ftirioso, 
and many lyrics. Tasso, see page 103 of this essay. 

^ Valerius Flaccus (died 86 a.d.), wrote a long poem about the Argo- 
nauts. Apollinaris Sidonius (430 a.d.), Bishop of Clermont, left 
twenty-four poems and nine books of Epistles. 

" Ticinus, a river of Italy flowing into the Po. 

' " Albulae aqufe," sulphur springs near Tibur, a few miles from 
Kome. Martial (43-104 a.d.), a famous writer of Latin epigrams. 

« The church in Florence where is Dante's monument, and Michael 
Angelo, Galileo, and other great Florentines are buried. 

' The Spectre Huntsman comes from a striking tale of Boccaccio's. 



54 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

at all aware that at Florence he was iu the vicinity of a 
poet with whom Boileau could not sustain a comparison, 
of the greatest lyric poet of modern times, Vincenzio Fili- 
caja.^ This is the more remarkable, because Filicaja was 
the favourite poet of the accomplished Somers, under 
whose protection Addison travelled, and to whom the ac- 
count of the Travels is dedicated. The truth is, that Ad- 
dison knew little, and cared less, about the literature of 
modern Italy. His favourite models were Latin. His 
favourite critics were French. Half the Tuscan ^ poetry 
that he had read seemed to him monstrous, and the other 
half tawdry. 

60. His Travels were followed by the lively Opera of 
Eosamond. This piece was ill set to music, and therefore 
failed on the stage, but it completely succeeded in j^rint, 
and is indeed excellent in its kind. The smoothness with 
which the verses glide, and the elasticity with which they 
bound, is, to our ears at least, very pleasing. We are in- 
clined to think that if Addison had left heroic couplets to 
Pope, and blank verse to Eowe,^ and had employed himself 
in writing airy and spirited songs, his reputation as a poet 
would have stood far higher than it now does. Some years 
after his death, Eosamond was set to new music by Doctor 
Arne * ; and was performed with complete success. Sev- 
eral passages long retained their popularity, and were daily 

Francesca is referred to in a beautiful passage in Dante {Liferno, V.), 
which should be read to the class. 

'Filicaja (1642-1707), writer of odes and sonnets. It will be noticed 
how much interest Macaulay himself takes in Italian poetry, and how 
well he knows it. 

» Here a general word for Italian. 

= Nicholas Rowe (1673-1718), poet-laureate of England. Blank verse 
is unrhymed verse. The term is applied specially to a verse of five 
feet, commonly used in English drama and epic poetry. 

* Michael Arne (1710-1778), the English composer of Rule Britannia^ 
other songs still popular, and a few operas. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 55 

sung, during the latter part of George the Second's reign, 
at all the harpsichords ^ in England. 

61. While Addison thus amused himself, his prospects, 
and the prospects of his party, were constantly becoming 
brighter and brighter. In the spring of 1705, the ministers 
were freed from the restraint imposed by a House of Com- 
mons, in which Tories of the most jjerverse class had the 
ascendency. The elections were favourable to the Wliigs. 
The coalition which had been tacitly and gradually formed 
was now openly avowed. The Great Seal ^ was given to 
Cowper. Somers and Halifax were sworn of the Council. 
Halifax was sent in the following year to carry the decora- 
tions of the order of the garter to the Electoral Prince of 
Hanover,^ and was accompanied on this honourable mission 
by Addison, who had just been made Undersecretary of 
State. The Secretary of State under whom Addison first 
served was Sir Charles Hedges, a Tory. But Hedges was 
soon dismissed to make room for the most vehement of 
Whigs, Charles, Earl of Sunderland.^ In every department 
of the state, indeed, the High Churchmen ^ were compelled 
to give place to their opponents. At the close of 1707, 
the Tories who still remained in office strove to rally, with 
Harley ^ at their head. But the attempt, though favoured 

§§ 61-66. Addison's employments and personal qualities. 

* A stringed instrument, looking like a piano, but whose tones were 
induced by plucking the strings, not striking them. It made a tinkling 
noise. It figured as a piano does now both in private houses and in 
concerts. 

" The Great Seal, giving official sanction to important documents, is 
the badge of the office of tlie lord chancellor. 
' Afterwards George I. 

* See Introduction. 

" Referring to the party in the Anglican church which attached im- 
portance to the authority of the church and priesthood, the traditional 
organization and ritual, and so forth. 

* See Introduction. 



56 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

by the Queen, who had always been a Tory at heart, and 
who had now quarrelled with the Duchess of Marlborough, 
was unsuccessful. The time was not yet. The Captain 
General was at the height of popularity and glory. The 
Low Church party had a majority in Parliament. The 
country squires and rectors, though occasionally uttering a 
savage growl, Avere for the most part in a state of torpor, 
which lasted till they were roused into activity, and indeed 
into madness, by the persecution of Sacheverell.^ Harley 
and his adherents were compelled to retire. The victory 
of the Whigs was complete. At the general election of 
1708, their strength in the House of Commons became 
irresistible ; and, before the end of that year, Somers was 
made Lord President of the Council, and Wharton ^ Lord 
Lieutenant of Ireland. 

62. Addison sat for Malmsbury in the House of Com- 
mons which was elected in 1708. But the House of Com- 
mons was not the field for him. The bashfulness of his 
nature made his wit and eloquence useless in debate. He 
once rose, but could not overcome his diffidence, and ever 
after remained silent. Nobody can think it strange that 
a great writer should fail as a speaker. But many, prob- 
ably, would think it strange that Addison's failure as a 
speaker should have had no unfavourable effect on his 
success as a politician. In our time, a man of high rank 
and great fortune might, though speaking very little and 
very ill, hold a considerable post. But it would now be 
inconceivable that a mere adventurer, a man who, when 
out of office, must live by his pen, should in a few years 
become successively Undersecretary of State, chief Secre- 
tary for Ireland, and Secretary of State, without some 
oratorical talent. Addison, without high birth, and with 
little property, rose to a post which Dukes, the heads of 

1 See Introduction. 

* A member of the Wliig Junto. See Introduction. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 57 

the great houses of Talbot, Eussell, and Bentinck/ have 
thought it an honour to fill. Without opening his lips in 
debate, he rose to a post, the highest that Chatham or Fox ^ 
ever reached. And this he did before he had been nine 
years in Parliament. We must look for the explanation of 
this seeming miracle to the peculiar circumstances in which 
that generation was placed. During the interval which 
elapsed between the time when the Censorship of the Press 
ceased, and the time when parliamentary proceedings be- 
gan to be freely reported, literary talents were, to a public 
man, of much more importance, and oratorical talents of 
much less importance, than in our time. At present, the 
best way of giving rapid and wide publicity to a fact or an 
argument is to introduce that fact or argument into a speech 
made in Parliament. If a political tract were to appear 
superior to the Conduct of the Allies, or to the best num- 
bers of the Freeholder, the circulation of such a tract 
would be languid indeed when compared with the circula- 
tion of every remarkable word uttered in the deliberations 
of the legislature. A speech made in the House of Com- 
mons at four in the morning is on thirty thousand tables 
before ten.^ A speech made on the Monday is read on the 
Wednesday by multitudes in Antrim and Aberdeenshire.^ 

'Talbot, Lord Shrewsbriry. See above, § 28. Russell, the family 
name of the Dukes of Bedford, a great Whig connection, furnishing 
many statesmen to England. Bentinck, the founder of the Portland 
dukedom, the companion, adviser, and agent of William III., came 
with him from Holland. His descendants have played a great part in 
English politics. 

2 Chatham (1708-1778), the elder Pitt, one of the greatest of English 
orators. Fox (1749-1806), the Tory orator and rival of the younger 
Pitt. 

' It would be hard to state what the number of people is now who 
read the daily reports of a Parliamentary debate. Before another sun- 
set the whoie world reads every important speech made in Parliament. 

♦Antrim, a northern county of Ireland. Aberdeenshire, in Scotland. 



58 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

The orator, by the help of a shorthand writer, has to a 
great extent superseded the pamphleteer. It was not so in 
the reign of Anne. The best speech could then produce 
no effect except on those who heard it. It was only by 
means of the press that the opinion of the public without 
doors could be influenced ; and the opinion of the public 
without doors could not but be of the highest importance 
in a country governed by parliaments, and indeed at that 
time governed by triennial parliaments. The pen was 
therefore a more formidable political engine than the 
tongue. Mr. Pitt^ and Mr. Fox contended only in Parlia- 
ment. But Walpole ^ and Pulteney,^ the Pitt and Fox of an 
earlier period, had not done half of what was necessary, 
when they sat down amidst the acclamations of the House 
of Commons. They had still co plead their cause before 
the country, and this they could do only by means of the 
press. Their works are now forgotten. But it is certain 
that there were in Grub Street " few more assiduous scrib- 
blers of Thoughts, Letters, Answers, Eemarks, than these 
two great chiefs of parties. Pulteney, when leader of the 
Opposition, and possessed of thirty thousand a year, edited 
the Craftsman. Walpole, though not a man of literary 
habits, was the author of at least ten pamphlets, and re- 
touched and corrected many more. These facts sufficiently 
show of how great importance literary assistance then was 
to the contending parties. St. John^ was, certainly, in 

>The younger Pitt (1759-1806), the most famous writer of his day, 
made leader of the House of Commons by his eloquence at the age of 
twenty-three. 

!* Sir Robert "Walpole, a noted English statesman, especially remem- 
bered as prime minister of George II. (1721-1742). 

'Pulteney (1684-1764), a prominent Whig in the reign of Queen 
Anne, who became Walpole's opponent in the reign of George II. 

*A street near Moorfields, London, formerly a resort of needy writers ; 
hence, a general term for the crowd of nameless writers for the press. 

•Lord Bolingbroke, the friend of Pope and Swift. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON- 



59 



Anne's reign, the best Tory speaker ; Cowper ^ was probably 
the best Whig speaker. But it may well be doubted 
whether St. John did so much for the Tories as Swift, 
and whether Cowper did so much for the Whigs as Addi- 
son. When these things are duly considered, it will not 
be thought strange that Addison should have climbed 
higher in the state than any other Englishman has ever, by 
means merely of literary talents, been able to climb. Swift 
would, in all probability, have climbed as high, if he had 
not been encumbered by his cassock and his pudding 
sleeves.^ As far as the homage of the great went. Swift 
had as much of it as if he had been Lord Treasurer. 

63. To the influence which Addison derived from his 
literary talents was added all the influence which arises 
from character. The world, always ready to think the 
worst of needy political adventurers, was forced to make 
one exception. Restlessness, violence, audacity, laxity of 
principle, are the vices ordinarily attributed to that class 
of men. But faction itself could not deny that Addison 
had, through all changes of fortune, been strictly faithful 
to his early opinions, and to his early friends ; that his in- 
tegrity was without stain ; that his whole deportment in- 
dicated a fine sense of the becoming ; that, in the utmost 
heat of controversy, his zeal was tempered by a regard for 
truth, humanity, and social decorum ; that no outrage 
could ever provoke him to retaliation unworthy of a Chris- 
tian and a gentleman ; and that his only faults were a too 
sensitive delicacy, and a modesty which amounted to bash- 
fulness. 

64. He was undoubtedly one of the most popular men of 
his time ; and much of his popularity he owed, we believe, 
to that very timidity which his friends lamented. That 
timidity often prevented him from exhibiting his talents 

• See Introduction. 

' Large, loose sleeves of a clergyman's gown. 



60 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

to the best advantage. But it proj)itiatecl Nemesis.^ It 
averted that envy which wouhl otherwise have been ex- 
cited by fame so splendid, and by so rapid an elevation. 
No man is so great a favourite with the public as he who is 
at once an object of admiration, of respect, and of pity ; 
and such were the feelings which Addison inspired. Those 
who enjoyed the privilege of hearing his familiar conver- 
sation, declared with one voice that it was superior even 
to his writings. The brilliant Mary Montague"^ said, that 
she had known all the wits, and that Addison was the best 
company in the world. The malignant Pope was forced 
to own, that there was a charm in Addison's talk, which 
could be found nowhere else. Swift, when burning with 
animosity against the AVhigs, could not but confess to 
Stella 3 that, after all, he had never known any associate so 
agreeable as Addison. Steele, an excellent judge of lively 
conversation, said, that the conversation of Addison was at 
once the most polite, and the most mirthful, that could be 
imagined; that it was Terence^ and Catullus in one, height- 
ened by an exquisite something which was neither Terence 
nor Catullus, but Addison alone. Young,^ an excellent 
judge of serious conversation, said, that when Addison was 
at his ease, he went on in a noble strain of thought and 

' Nemesis, the Greek goddess of retribution, who always saw to it 
that excessive prosperity should be counterbalanced by proportionate 
calamity. 

= Lady Mary Wortley Montague (1689-1762), daughter of the Duke 
of Kingston, wife of the English ambassador to Constantinople, whence 
she wrote very diverting letters. She was a great friend of Pope. 

2 Name given by Swift to his sweetheart, Esther Johnson, to whom 
he wrote a most curious series of journal letters, describing his whole 
life from day to day. 

'' Terence (185-159 b.c), a celebrated Roman comic poet, whose 
grace of style is proverbial. 

'Edward Young (1681-1765), an English poet. His most famous 
work is the Night Thoughts. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 61 

language, so as to chain the attention of every hearer. 
Nor were Addison's great colloquial powers more ad- 
mirable than the conrtesy and softness of heart which ap- 
peared in his conversation. At the same time, it would 
be too much to say that he was wholly devoid of the malice 
which is, perhaps, inseparable from a keen sense of the lu- 
dicrous. He had one habit which both Swift and Stella ap- 
plauded, and which we hardly know how to blame. If his 
first attempts to set a presuming dunce right were ill re- 
ceived, he changed his tone, " assented with civil leer," ^ 
and lured the flattered coxcomb deeper and deeper into ab- 
surdity. That such was his practice we should, we think, 
have guessed from his works. The Tatler's criticisms on 
Mr. Softly's sonnet,^ and the Spectator's dialogue with 
the politician who is so zealous for the honour of Lady 
Q — p — t — s, are excellent specimens of this innocent mis- 
chief.^ 

65. Such were Addison's talents for conversation. But 
his rare gifts were not exhibited to crowds or to strangers. 
As r ' yn as he entered a large company, as soon as he saw 
an unknown face, his lips were sealed, and his manners be- 
came constrained. None who met him only in great as- 
semblies would have been able to believe that he was the 
same man who had often kept a few friends listening and 
laughing round a table, from the time when the play ended, 
till the clock of St. Paul's in Covent Garden^ struck four. 
Yet, even at such a table, he was not seen to the best ad- 

' A phrase from Pope's description of Addison. See Introduction. 

^ Tailer, No. 16.3. 

= Spectator, No. 568. 

* Covent Garden, a space in London near the Strand, once a part of 
the convent Garden of the Westminster monks. In Addison's time it 
was full of coffee-houses and taverns, a favorite lounging place for the 
wits. It is now a great market, especially for flowers. This St. Paul's 
was liiiilt bv luigo .lones. 



(32 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

vantage. To enjoy liis conversation in the highest perfec- 
tion, it was necessary to be alone with him, and to hear 
him, in his own phrase, think aloud. " There is no such 
thing," he used to say, "as real conversation, but between 
two persons." 

66. This timidity, a timidity surely neither ungraceful 
nor.unamiable, led Addison into the two most serious faults 
which can with justice be imputed to him. He found that 
wine broke the spell which lay on his fine intellect, and was 
therefore too easily seduced into convivial excess. Such 
excess was in that age regarded, even by grave men, as the 
most venial of all peccadilloes, and was so far from being a 
mark of illbreeding that it was almost essential to the char- 
acter of a fine gentleman. But the smallest speck is seen 
on a white ground ; and almost all the biographers of Ad- 
dison have said something about this failing. Of any other 
statesman or writer of Queen Anne's reign, we should no 
more think of saying that he sometimes took too much 
wine, than that he wore a long wig and a sword. 

67. To the excessive modesty of Addison's nature, we 
must ascribe another fault which generally arises from a 
very different cause. He became a little too fond of seeing 
himself surrounded by a small circle of admirers, to whom 
he was as a King or rather as a God. All these men were far 
inferior to him in ability, and some of them had very serious 
faults. Nor did those faults escape his observation ; for, if 
ever there was an eye which saw through and through 
men, it was the eye of Addison. But, with the keenest ob- 
servation, and the finest sense of the ridiculous, he had a 
large charity. The feeling with which he looked on most 
of his humble companions was one of benevolence, slightly 
tinctured with contempt. He was at perfect ease in their 
company ; he was grateful for their devoted attachment ; 

§§ 67-71. Addison's friends and admirers. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 63 

aud he loaded them with benefits. Their veneration for 
him appears to have exceeded that with which Johnson was 
regarded by Boswell/ or Warburton by Hurd.^ It was not 
in the power of adulation to turn such a head, or deprave 
such a lieart, as Addison's. But it must in candour be ad- 
mitted that he contracted some of the faults which can 
scarcely be avoided by any person who is so unfortunate as 
to be the oracle of a small literary coterie. 

68. One member of this little society was Eustace Bud- 
gell, a young Templar^ of some literature, and a distant re- 
lation of Addison. There was at this time no stain on the 
character of Budgell, and it is not improbable that his 
career would have been prosperous and honourable, if the 
life of his cousin had been prolonged. But, when the mas- 
ter was laid in the grave, the disciple broke loose from all 
restraint, descended rapidly from one degree of vice and 
misery to another, ruined his fortune by follies, attempted 
to repair it by crimes, and at length closed a wicked and 
unhappy life by selfmurder. Yet, to the last, the wretched 
man, gambler, lampooner, cheat, forger, as he was, re- 
tained his affection and veneration for Addison, and re- 
corded those feelings in the last lines which he traced be- 
fore he hid himself from infamy under London Bridge. 

69. Another of Addisoii's favourite companions was Am- 
brose Phillipps, a good Whig and a middling poet, who 
had the honour of bringing into fashion a species of com- 

' James Boswell (1740-1795), the adorer and biographer of Dr. Sam- 
uel Johnson. See Macaulay's Life of Jolmson^ and Essay on BosivelCs 
Johnson. 

''Warburton, the English bishop of Gloucester (1G98-1779), author 
of the Divine Legation of Moses, a book once very famous. Bishop 
Hurd was his biographer and admirer. Hurd edited Addison also. 

^ A student of law, so called from having chambers in the Temple 
in London. This site, once occupied by the Knights Templars, is the 
property of the two societies of lawyers which have the right of exam- 
ining candidates and " calling to the bar " of England. 



64 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 



position which has been called, after his name, Namby 
Pamby. But the most remarkable members of the little 
senate, as Pope long afterwards called it, were Eichard 
Steele and Thomas Tickell. 

70. Steele ^ had known Addison from childhood. They 
had been together at the Charter House and at Oxford ; 
but circumstances had then, for a time, separated them 
widely. Steele had left college without taking a degree, 
had been disinherited by a rich relation, had led a vagrant 
life, had served in the army, had tried to find the philoso- 
pher's stone,^ and had written a religious treatise and sev- 
eral comedies. He was one of those people whom it is 
impossible either to hate or to respect.^ His temper was 
sweet, his affections warm, his spirits lively, his passions 
strong, and his principles weak. His life was spent in sin- 
ning and repenting ; in inculcating what was right, and 
doing what was wrong. In sjjeculation, he was a man of 
piety and honour ; in practice he was much of the rake 
and a little of the swindler. He was, however, so good- 
natured that it was not easy to be seriously angry with him, 
and that even rigid moralists felt more inclined to pity than 
to blame him, when he diced himself into a spunging'* 
house or drank himself into a fever. Addison regarded 
Steele with kindness not unmingled with scorn, tried, with 

' See Introduction. 

2 The "great elixir "in alchemy, which was believed to have the 
property of transmuting lower metals to gold. The pursuit of alchemy 
did not die out till the dawn of chemistry, in the seventeenth century. 
It was a favorite pursuit of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony. 

^ The picture of Steele's weakness is much over-colored by Macau- 
lay to make an antithesis to Addison's merit. Thackeray in his English 
Humorists and Henry Esmond has done the same thing. 

* Another spelling of " sponging house," a place where persons ar- 
rested for debt were kept for twenty-four hours by the bailiff, or sher- 
iff's officer, till they should pay theil" debts before imprisonment. The 
whole process is obsolete now. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 65 

little success, to keep him out of scrapes, introduced him 
to the great, procured a good place for him, corrected his 
plays, and, though by no means rich, lent him large sums 
of money. One of these loans appears, from a letter dated 
in August, 1708, to have amounted to a thousand pounds. 
These pecuniary transactions probably led to frequent bick- 
erings. It is said that, on one occasion, Steele's negligence, 
or dishonesty, provoked Addison to repay himself by the 
help of a bailiff. We cannot join with Miss Aikin in re- 
jecting this story. Johnson heard it from Savage,^ who 
heard it from Steele. Few private transactions which took 
place a hundred and twenty years ago, are proved by 
stronger evidence than this. But we can by no means agree 
with those who condemn Addison's severity. The most 
amiable of mankind may well be moved to indignation, 
when what he has earned hardly, and lent with great in- 
convenience to himself, for the purpose of relieving a friend 
in distress, is squandered with insane profusion. We will 
illustrate our meaning by an example, which is not the less 
striking because it is taken from fiction. Dr. Harrison, in 
Fielding's Amelia,^ is represented as the most benevolent 
of human beings ; yet he takes in execution, not only the 
goods, but the person of his friend Booth. Dr. Harrison 
resorts to this strong measure because he has been informed 
that Booth, while pleading poverty as an excuse for not 
paying just debts, has been buying fine jewellery, and set- 
ting up a coach. No person who is well acquainted with 
Steele's life and correspondence can doubt that he behaved 
quite as ill to Addison as Booth was accused of behaving to 
Dr. Harrison. The real history, we have little doubt, was 
something like this : — A letter comes to Addison, implor- 
ing help in pathetic terms, and promising reformation and 

'Richard Savage (1698-1743), a poet and friend of Johnson, who 
wrote his life. 

* A famous novel by Henry Fielding, published in 1751. 
5 



66 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

speedy repayment. Poor Dick declares that he has not an 
inch of candle, or a bushel of coals, or credit with the 
butcher for a shoulder of mutton. Addison is moved. He 
determines to deny himself some medals which are wanting 
to his series of the Twelve Cgesars ; to put off buying the 
new edition of Bayle's Dictionary ^ ; and to wear his old 
sword and buckles another year. In this way he manages 
to send a hundred pounds to his friend. The next day he 
calls on Steele, and finds scores of gentlemen and ladies as- 
sembled. The fiddles are playing. The table is groaning 
under Champagne, Burgundy, and pyramids of sweet- 
meats. Is it strange that a man whose kindness is thus 
abused, should send sheriff's officers to reclaim what is due 
to him ? 

71. Tickell ^ was a young man, fresh from Oxford, who 
had introduced himself to public notice by writing a most 
ingenious and graceful little poem in praise of the opera of 
Rosamond. He deserved, and at length attained, the first 
place in Addison's friendship. For a time Steele and 
Tickell were on good terms. But they loved Addison too 
much to love each other, and at length became as bitter 
enemies as the rival bulls in Virgil.^ 

72. At the close of 1708 Wharton became Lord Lieuten- 
ant of Ireland, and appointed Addison Chief Secretary. 
Addison was consequently under the necessity of quitting 
London for Dublin. Besides the chief secretaryship, which 
was then worth about two thousand pounds a year, he ob- 

§§ 72-74. Addison in Ireland. 

> Pierre Bayle (1647-1706), the great French teacher of eighteenth 
century scepticism, editor of a cyclopedia called Didionnaire his- 
torique et critique, which was intended to embody a sceptical view of 
all subjects in the universe. It is said to have been always open on 
Addison's table. 

2 See Introduction, 

' Georgics, III., 220-225. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 57 

tained a jiatent appointing him keejier of the Irish Records 
for life, with a salary of three or four hundred a year. 
Budgell accompanied his cousin in the capacity of private 
Secretary. 

73. Wharton and Addison had nothing in common but 
Whiggism. The Lord Lieutenant was not only licentious 
and corrupt, but was distinguished from other libertines 
and jobbers by a callous impudence which presented the 
strongest contrast to the Secretary's gentleness and deli- 
cacy. Many parts of the Irish administration at this time 
appear to have deserved serious blame. But against Ad- 
dison there was not a murmur. He long afterwards as- 
serted, what all the evidence which we have ever seen tends 
to prove, that his diligence and integrity gained the friend- 
ship of all the most considerable persons in Ireland. 

74. The parliamentary career of Addison in Ireland has, 
we think, wholly escaped the notice of all his biographers. 
He was elected member for the borough of Cavan ^ in the 
summer of 1709 ; and in the journals of two sessions his 
name frequently occurs. Some of the entries appear to 
indicate that he so far overcame his timidity as to make 
speeches. Nor is this by any means improbable ; for the 
Irish House of Commons ^ was a far less formidable au- 
dience than the English House ; and many tongues which 
were tied by fear in the greater assembly became fluent in 
the smaller. Gerard Hamilton,^ for example, who, froni 
fear of losing the fame gained by his single speech, sat 
mute at Westminster during forty years, spoke with great 
effect at Dublin when he was Secretary to Lord Halifax. 

75. While Addison was in Ireland, an event occurred to 
which he owes his high and permanent rank among British 

§§ 75-80. The founding of the Tatler. 

* Cavan, a northern county in Ireland. 

' The Irish House, which ceased to exist at the Union in 1800. 

' He was known as " Single-speech Hamilton." 



68 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

writers. As yet his fame rested on performances which, 
though highly respectable, were not built for duration, and 
which would, if he had produced nothing else, have now 
been almost forgotten, on some excellent Latin verses, on 
some English verses which occasionally rose above medioc- 
rity, and on a book of travels, agreeably written, but not 
indicating any extraordinary powers of mind. These works 
showed him to be a man of taste, sense, and learning. The 
time had come when he was to prove himself a man of 
genius, and to enrich our literature with compositions 
which will live as long as the English language. 

76. In the spring of 1709 Steele formed a literary proj- 
ect, of which he was far indeed from foreseeing the conse- 
quences. Periodical papers had during many years been 
published in London. Most of these were political ; but 
in some of them questions of morality, taste, and love 
casuistry had been discussed. The literary merit of these 
works was small indeed ; and even their names are now 
known only to the curious. 

77. Steele had been appointed Gazetteer^ by Sunderland, 
at the request, it is said, of Addison, and thus had access 
to foreign intelligence earlier and more authentic than was 
in those times within the reach of an ordinary newswriter. 
This circumstance seems to have suggested to him the 
scheme of publishing a periodical paper on a new plan. It 
was to appear on the days on which the post left London 
for the country, which were, in that generation, the Tues- 
days, Thursdays, and Saturdays. It was to contain the for- 
eign news, accounts of theatrical representations, and the 
literary gossip of Will's and of the Grecian. ^ It was also to 

1 The three official newspapers, published in London, Dublin, and 
Edinburgh, gave lists of government appointments, honors, and pro- 
motions as well as official news of all sorts. This Gazette now forms 
a part of the daily papers in London. See Macaulay's History, Chap- 
ter III., aud Tailer, No. 18. 

» See Introduction. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON (39 

contain remarks on the fashionable topics of the tlay, com- 
pliments to beauties, pasquinades^ on noted sharpers, and 
criticisms on popular preachers. The aim of Steele does not 
appear to have been at first higher than this. He was not ill 
qualified to conduct the work which he had planned. His 
public intelligence he drew from the best sources. He knew 
the town, and had paid dear for his knowledge. He had 
read much more than the dissijiated men of that time were 
in the habit of reading. He was a rake ^ among scholars, 
and a scholar among rakes. His style was easy and not in- 
correct ; and, though his wit and humour were of no high 
order, his gay animal spirits imparted to his compositions 
an air of vivacity which ordinary readers could hardly dis- 
tinguish from comic genius. His writings have been well 
compared to those light wines which, though deficient in 
body and flavour, are yet a pleasant small drink, if not kept 
too long, or carried too far. 

78. Isaac Bickerstaff, Esquire, Astrologer, was an imag- 
inary person, almost as well known in that age as Mr. Paul 
Pry ^ or Mr. Samuel Pickwick in ours. Swift had assumed 
the name of Bickerstaff in a satirical pamj)hlet against 
Partridge, the maker of almanacks.^ Partridge had been 
fool enough to publish a furious reply. Bickerstaff had 
rejoined in a second pamphlet still more diverting than 
the first. All the wits had combined to keep up the joke. 
And the town was long in convulsions of laughter. Steele 
determined to employ the name which this controversy had 
made popular; and, in 1709, it was announced that Isaac 

' Rhyming satires, published anonymously. The word is derived 
from a statue, named Pasquin by the Romans of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, on which were affixed such epigrams for popular amusement. 

» A dissolute person of fashion. The word was much used in Addi- 
son's time. 

' A character in a play of Poole's, very popular in Macaulay's day. 

4 Swift's joke consisted in first foretelling Partridge's death and then 
announcing that he was dead. Partridge kept replying angrily that he 
was not. The joke was carried on with much elaboration in the Tatler. 



70 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

Bickerstaff, Esquire, Astrologer, was about to publish a 
paper called the Tatler. 

79. Addison had not been consulted about this scheme : 
but as soon as he heard of it, he determined to give his as- 
sistance. The effect of that assistance cannot be better 
described than in Stealers own words. " I fared," he said, 
" like a distressed prince who calls in a powerful neighbour 
to his aid. I was undone by my auxiliary. When I had once 
called him in, I could not subsist without dependence on 
him." " The paper," he says elsewhere, '' was advanced 
indeed. It was raised to a greater thing than I intended it." 

80. It is probable that Addison, when he sent across St. 
George's Channel his first contributions to the Tatler, had 
no notion of the extent and variety of his own powers. He 
was the possessor of a vast mine, rich with a hundred ores. 
But he had been acquainted only with the least precious 
part of his treasures, and had hitherto contented himself 
with producing sometimes copper and sometimes lead, in- 
termingled with a little silver. All at once, and by mere 
accident, he had lighted on an inexhaustible vein of the 
finest gold. 

81. The mere choice and arrangement of his words would 
have sufficed to make his essays classical. For never, not 
even by Dryden, not even by Temple,^ had the English 
language been written with such sweetness, grace, and fa- 
cility. But this was the smallest part of Addison's praise. 
Had he clothed his thoughts in the half French style of 
Horace Walpole,^ or in the half Latin style of Dr. Johnson, 

§§ 81-91. Addison's quality as an essayist. Contrasted with Swift 
and Voltaire. 

»Sir William Temple (1628-1699), a statesman of the reign of 
Charles II., famous for negotiating the Triple Alliance. 

"Horace Walpole (1717-1797), son of Sir Kobert "Walpole, a smart 
writer, elegant collector, and man of fashion. His letters and his 
novel, The Castle of Otranto, represent him to the present world. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 71 

or in the half German * jargon of the present day, his genins 
would have triumphed over all faults of manner. As a 
moral satirist he stands unrivalled. If ever the best Tatlers 
and Spectators were equalled in their own kind, we should 
be inclined to guess that it must have been by the lost 
comedies of Menander.^ 

83. In wit, properly so called, Addison was not inferior 
to Cowley^ or Butler.** No single ode of Cowley contains 
so many hapj)y analogies as are crowded into the lines to 
Sir Godfrey Kneller ^ and we would undertake to collect 
from the Sj^ectators as great a number of ingenious illus- 
trations as can be found in Hudibras. The still higher 
faculty of invention Addison possessed in still larger meas- 
ure. The numerous fictions, generally original, often wild 
and grotesque, but always singularly graceful and happy, 
which are found in his essays, fully entitle him to the rank 
of a great poet, a rank to which his metrical compositions 
give him no claim. As an observer of life, of manners, of 
all the shades of human character, he stands in the first 
class. And what he observed he had the art of communi- 
cating in two widely different ways. He could describe 
* Probably a criticism on Carlyle's English. He was at the height 
of his popuhirity in 1843. 

'^ Menander (343 B.C.), the great Athenian comedy writer. Many 
fragments of his work remain, but no whole play. 

' Abraham Cowley (1618-1667), the most popular poet of Milton's 
day; one of the great men of Macaulay's own college (Trinity College, 
Cambridge). He wrote many translations and imitations of classic 
authors, as well as English odes and prose essays. In politics he took 
the royalist side with Lord Falkland. Macaulay wrote a charming 
Conversation between Mr. Ahraham Goioley and Mr. John Milton for 
Knighfs Quarterly in 1823. Cowley enjoyed a great fame; and was 
thought in Milton's lifetime the greater poet of the two. 

^ Samuel Butler (1612-1680), author of Hudihra.s, a poem satirizing 
Puritanism, much read, and responsible for a good deal of modern 
imagination about the Puritans. 

^ Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646-1 723), a German painter, who made many 
portraits in the courts of Charles II., James II., William, and Anne. 
He painted portraits of his fellow-members in the Kit Cat Club. 



72 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

virtues, vices, habits, whims, as well as Clarendon,^ But 
he could do something better. He could call human be- 
ings into existence, and make them exhibit themselves. 
If we wish to find anything more vivid than Addison's 
best portraits, we must go either to Shakspeare or to Cer- 
vantes.*^ 

83. But what shall we say of Addison's humour, of his 
sense of the ludicrous, of his power of awakening that sense 
in others, and of drawing mirth from incidents which oc- 
cur every day, and from little peculiarities of temper and 
manner, such as may be found in every man ? We feel 
the charm : we give ourselves up to it : but we strive in 
vain to analyse it. 

84. Perhaps the best way of describing Addison's pecul- 
iar pleasantry is to compare it with the pleasantry of some 
other great satirists. The three most eminent masters of 
the art of ridicule, during the eighteenth century, were, 
we conceive, Addison, Swift, and Voltaire.^ Which of the 
three had the greatest power of moving laughter may be 
questioned. But each of them, within his own domain, 
was supreme. 

85. Voltaire is the prince of buffoons. His merriment 
is without disguise or restraint. He gambols ; he grins ; 
he shakes his sides ; he points the finger ; he turns up the 
nose ; he shoots out the tongue. The manner of Swift is 
the very opposite to this. He moves laughter, but never 
joins in it. He appears in his works such as he appeared 
in society. All the company are convulsed with merri- 

' Edward Hyde, Lord Clarendon (1608-1674), the adviser of Charles 
I., and Cliarles II., lord chancellor in 1660. He was the author of 
the great history of the Civil War. 

5 Cervantes (1547-1616), author of Don Quixote, the great Spanish 
classic. 

3 Voltaire, the assumed name of Frangois Arouet, a famous French 
writer (1694-1778). For a further account of his character see Macau- 
lay's Essay on Frederic the Great. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 73 

ment, while tlie Dean, the author of all the mirth, pre- 
serves an invincible gravity, and even sourness of aspect, 
and gives utterance to the most eccentric and ludicrous 
fancies, with the air of a man reading the commination 
service. 

86. The manner of Addison is as remote from that of 
Swift as from that of Voltaire. He neither laughs out 
like the French wit, nor, like the Irish wit, throws a 
double portion of severity into his countenance while 
laughing inwardly ; but preserves a look peculiarly his 
own, a look of demure serenity, disturbed only by an arch 
sparkle of the eye, an almost imperceptible elevation of 
the brow, an almost imperceptible curl of the lip. His tone 
is never that either of a Jack Pudding^ or of a Cynic.^ 
It is that of a gentleman, in whom the quickest sense of 
the ridiculous is constantly tempered by good nature and 
good breeding. 

87. We own that the humour of Addison is, in our opin- 
ion, of a more delicious flavour than the humour of either 
Swift or Voltaire. Thus much, at least, is certain, that 
both Swift and Voltaire have been successfully mimicked, 
and that no man has yet been able to mimic Addison. 
The letter of the Abbe Coyer to Pansophe is Voltaire all 
over, and imposed, during a long time, on the Academi- 
cians of Paris. There are passages in Arbuthnot's ^ satir- 
ical works which we, at least, cannot distinguish from 



1 Jack-pudding, equivalent to the German Hans Wurst. It means a 
buffoon or funny man. 

2 Cynic, a Greek word meaning " dog-like," originally referring to 
one of a Greek school of philosophers, called " dogs," in allusion to 
their coarse mode of life or surly disposition. They taught that virtue 
consists in self-control and that pleasure is itself an evil. Hence it ia 
a name for all persons of a captious and snarling disposition. 

3 John Arbuthnot (1667-1735), author of the History of John Bull^ in 
which this nickname for Englishmen was first used. 



74 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

Swift's best writing. But of the many eminent men who 
have made Addison their model, though several have 
copied his mere diction with happy effect, none has been 
able to catch the tone of his pleasantry. In the World, in 
the Connoisseur, in the Mirror, in the Lounger, there are 
numerous papers written in obvious imitation of his Tatlevs 
and Spectators. Most of those papers have some merit ; 
many are very lively and amusing ; but there is not a 
single one which could be passed off as Addison's on a 
critic of the smallest perspicacity.* 

88. But that which chiefly distinguishes Addison from 
Swift, from Voltaire, from almost all the other great mas- 
ters of ridicule, is the grace, the nobleness, the moral 
purity, which we find even in his merriment. Severity, 
gradually hardening and darkening into misanthropy, char- 
acterizes the works of Swift. The nature of Voltaire was, 
indeed, not inhuman ; but he venerated nothing. Neither 
in the masterpieces of art nor in the purest examples of 
virtue, neither in the Great First Cause nor in the awful 
enigma of the grave, could he see any thing but subjects 
for drollery. The more solemn and august the theme, the 
more monkey-like was his grimacing and chattering. The 
mirth of Swift is the mirth of Mephistophiles '^ ; the mirth 
of Voltaire is the mirth of Puck.^ If, as Soame Jenyns * 
oddly imagined, a portion of the happiness of Seraphim 
and just men made perfect be derived from an exquisite 
perception of the ludicrous, their mirth must surely be 
none other than the mirth of Addison ; a mirth consistent 
with tender compassion for all that is frail, and with pro- 

' Perspicacious means quick-sighted, keen, and is often confused by 
learners with perspicuous, meaning transparent, easy to see through. 

"The cold " denying spirit" in Goethe's Faust. 

'In ^ Midsummer Night's Dream. 

* Soame Jenyns (1704-1787), an English essayist and theologian, 
much esteemed in his time. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 75 

found reverence for all that is sublime. Nothing great, 
nothing amiable, no moral duty, no doctrine of natural or 
revealed religion, has ever been associated by Addison with 
any degrading idea. His humanity is without a parallel in 
literary history. The highest proof of virtue is to possess 
boundless power without abusing it. No kind of power is 
more formidable than the power of making men ridiculous ; 
and that power Addison possessed in boundless measure. 
How grossly that power was abused by Swift and by Vol- 
taire is well known. But of Addison it maybe confidently 
affirmed that he has blackened no man's character, nay, 
that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find in all 
the volumes which he has left us a single taunt which can 
be called ungenerous or unkind. Yet he had detractors, 
whose malignity might have seemed to justify as terrible a 
revenge as that which men, not superior to him in genius, 
wreaked on Bettesworth and on Franc de Pompignan.^ 
He was a politician ; he was the best writer of his party ; 
he lived in times of fierce excitement, in times when per- 
sons of high character and station stooped to scurrility such 
as is now practised only by the basest of mankind. Yet no 
provocation and no example could induce him to return 
railing for railing. 

89. Of the service which his Essays rendered to morality 
it is difficult to speak too highly. It is true that, when the 
Tatler appeared, that age of outrageous profaneness and 
licentiousness which followed the Restoration^ had passed 
away. Jeremy Collier^ had shamed the theatres into 

> Bettesworth, a Dublin lawyer ; de Pompignan, a French marquis : 
victims respectively of Swift and Voltaire. 

■■i Of Charles II., in IGGO. The period is extended to cover the whole 
reign of that king. 

=> Jeremy Collier (1G50-1726), a clergyman celebrated for his effort 
to purify the stage. See Macaulay's Essay on the Comic Dramatists 
of the Restoration. 



76 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

something which, compared with the excesses of Etherege 
and Wycherley,^ might be called decency. Yet there still 
lingered in the public mind a pernicious notion that there 
was some connection between genius and profligacy, be- 
tween the domestic virtues and the sullen formality of the 
Puritans. That error it is the glory of Addison to have 
dispelled. He taught the nation that the faith and the 
morality of Hale ^ and Tillotson ^ might be found in company 
with wit more sparkling than the wit of Congreve, and 
with humour richer than the humour of Vanbrugh.* So 
effectually, indeed, did he retort on vice the mockery which 
had recently been directed against virtue, that, since his 
time, the open violation of decency has always been con- 
sidered among us as the mark of a fool. And this revolu- 
tion, the greatest and most salutary ever effected by any 
satirist, he accomplished, be it remembered, without writ- 
ing one personal lampoon. 

90. In the early contributions of Addison to the Tatler 
his peculiar powers were not fully exhibited. Yet from 
the first, his superiority to all his coadjutors was evident. 
Some of his later Tatlers are fully equal to any thing that 
he ever wrote. Among the portraits, we most admire 
Tom Folio, Ned Softly, and the Political Upholsterer. 
The proceedings of the Court of Honour, the Thermome- 
ter of Zeal, the story of the Frozen Words, the Memoirs 
of the Shilling,^ are excellent specimens of that ingenious 

'Sir George Etherege (1636-1695), William Wycherley (1640-1715), 
both typical dramatists of the period. 

''Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676), lord chief justice of England in 
1671, author of Contemplations Moral and Divine, 

^ A famous theological writer of the seventeenth century. 

^ Sir John Vanbrugh (1666-1726), an English dramatist and archi- 
tect. He built Blenheim, the house of the Duke of Marlborough 
near Oxford. 

^Nos. 158, 163, 250-265, 254, 249, and 220. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 77 

and lively species of fiction in which Addison excelled all 
men. There is one still better paper of the same class. 
But though that paper, a hundred and thirty-three years 
ago, was probably thought as edifying as one of Smal- 
ridge's ^ sermons, we dare not indicate it to the squeamish 
readers of the nineteenth century. 

91. During the session of Parliament which commenced 
in November, 1709, and which the impeachment of 
Sacheverell has made memorable, Addison appears to have 
resided in London. The Tatler was now more popular 
than any periodical paper had ever been ; and his connec- 
tion with it was generally known. It was not known, 
however, that almost every thing good in the Tatler was 
his. The truth is, that the fifty or sixty numbers which 
we owe to him were not merely the best, but so decidedly 
the best that any five of them are more valuable than all 
the two hundred numbers in which he had no share. 

92. He required, at this time, all the solace which he 
could derive from literary success. The Queen had always 
disliked the Whigs. She had during some years disliked 
the Marlborough family. But, reigning by a disputed 
title,^ she could not venture directly to oppose herself to a 
majority of both Houses of Parliament ; and, engaged as 
she was in a war on the event of which her own Crown was 
staked, she could not venture to disgrace a great and suc- 
cessful general. But at length, in the year 1710, the 
causes which had restrained her from showing her aversion 
to the Low Church party ceased to operate. The trial of 
SacheverelP produced an outbreak of public feeling 

§§92-96. Downfall of the Whigs; shock to Addison's fortunes. 

1 A bishop and noted scholar of Addison's time. 

* She was not the heir by inheritance strictly, her title depending on 
the Act of Parliament which settled the succession on William III,, 
herself, and her heirs (1689). 

^ See Introduction, 



78 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

scarcely less violent than the outbreaks which we can our. 
selves remember in 1820, and 1831.^ The country gentle- 
men, the country clergymen, the rabble of the towns, were 
all, for once, on the same side. It was clear that, if a 
general election took place before the excitement abated, 
the Tories would have a majority. The services of Marl- 
borough had been so splendid that they were no longer 
necessary. The Queen's throne was secure from all attack 
on the part of L ewis. Indeed, it seemed much more likely 
that the English and German armies would divide the 
spoils of Versailles and Marli ^ than that a Marshal of 
France would bring back the Pretender^ to St. James's.^ 
The Queen, acting by the advice of Harley, determined to 
dismiss her servants. In June the change commenced. 
Sunderland was the first who fell. The Tories exulted 
over his fall. The Whigs tried, during a few weeks, to 
persuade themselves that her Majesty had acted only from 
personal dislike to the Secretary, and that she meditated no 
further alteration. But, early in August, Godolphin was 
surprised by a letter from Anne, which directed him to 
break his white staff. ^ Even after this event, the irresolu- 
tion or dissimulation of Harley kept up the hopes of the 

' The agitations preceding Catholic emancipation and parliamentary 
reform. 

= The palaces of Louis XIV. 

^The Pretender, the name of that day for James III., the son of the 
exiled James II., who pretended by right of birth to the English throne. 

* St. James's Palace, built by Henry VIII., is no longer occupied by 
the sovereign, though it gives the official title to the English Court. 

^ The staff was a sign of authority, used in many offices in the mid- 
dle ages. (7/". the " pastoral staff " of the bishops. To break the staff 
was a sign of renunciation of office, as " to give the staff " was a for- 
mal installation into office. 

Compare Shakespeare, Richard II., II., 2, 59. 
. . . . ' ' The Earl of Worcester 
" Hath broke his staff, resigned his stewardship." 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 79 

Whigs during another month ; and then the ruin became 
rapid and violent. The Parliament was dissolved. The 
Ministers were turned out. The Tories were calleJ to of- 
fice. The tide of popularity ran violently in favour of the 
High Church party. That party, feeble in the late House 
of Commons, was now irresistible. The power which the 
Tories had thus suddenly acquired, they used with blind 
and stupid ferocity. The howl which the whole pack set 
up for prey and for blood appalled even him who had 
roused and unchained them. When, at this distance of 
time, we calmly review the conduct of the discarded min- 
isters, we cannot but feel a movement of indignation at 
the injustice with which they were treated. No body of 
men had ever administered the government with more 
energy, ability, and moderation ; and their success had 
been proportioned to their wisdom. They had saved Hol- 
land and Germany. They had humbled France, They 
had, as it seemed, all but torn Spain from the House of 
Bourbon. They had made England the first power in 
Europe. At home they had united England and Scotland. 
They had respected the rights of conscience and the liberty 
of the subject. They retired, leaving their country at the 
height of prosperity and glory. ^ And yet they were pur- 
sued to their retreat by such a roar of obloquy as was never 
raised against the government which threw away thirteen 
colonies,^ or against the government which sent a gallant 
army to perish in the ditches of Walcheren.^ 

93. . None of the Whigs suffered more in the general 
wreck than Addison. He had just sustained some heavy 
pecuniary losses, of the nature of which we are imperfectly 

' See Introduction, 

» Lord North's ministry (1770-1782). 

' The Portland ministry, 1809. The "Walcheren expedition was a 
futile attempt to destroy the fortifications of Antwerp during the war 
with France. 



80 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

informed, when his Secretaryship was taken from him. 
He had reason to believe that he should also be deprived 
of the small Irish office which he held by patent. He had 
just resigned his Fellowship. It seems probable that he 
had already ventured to raise his eyes to a great lady,^ and 
that, while his political friends were in power, and while 
his own fortunes were rising, he had been, in the phrase 
of the romances which were then fashionable, permitted 
to hope. But Mr. Addison the ingenious writer, and 
Mr. Addison the chief Secretary, were, in her ladyship's 
opinion, two very different persons. All these calamities 
united, however, could not disturb the serene cheerfulness 
of a mind conscious of innocence, and rich in its own 
wealth. ^He told his friends, with smiling resignation, 
that they ought to admire his philosophy, that he had lost 
at once his fortune, his place, his fellowship, and his mis- 
tress, that he must think of turning tutor again, and yet 
that his spirits were as good as ever. 

94. He had one consolation. Of the unpopularity which 
his friends had incurred, he had no share. Such was the 
esteem with which he was regarded that, while the most 
violent measures were taken for the purpose of forcing 
Tory members on Whig corporations, he was returned to 
Parliament without even a contest. Swift, who was now 
in London, and who had already determined on quitting 
the Whigs, wrote to Stella in these remarkable words : 
" The Tories carry it among the new members six to one. 
Mr. Addison's election has passed easy and undisputed ; 
and I believe if he had a mind to be king, he would hardly 
be refused." 

95. The good will with which the Tories regarded Ad- 
dison is the more honourable to him, because it had not 
been purchased by any concession on his part. During 
the general election he published a political Journal, en- 

* The Countess of Warwick, whom he afterwards married. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 81 

titled the Whig Examiner. Of that Journal it may be suf- 
ficient to say that Johnson, in spite of his strong political 
prejudices, pronounced it to be superior in wit to any of 
Swift's writings on the other side. When it ceased to ap- 
pear. Swift, in a letter to Stella, expressed his exultation 
at the death of so formidable an antagonist. *' He might 
well rejoice," says Johnson, " at the death of that which 
he could not have killed." "On no occasion/Mie adds, 
" was the genius of Addison more vigorously exerted, and 
on none did the superiority of his powers more evidently 
appear." 

96. The only use which Addison appears to have made 
of the favour with which he was regarded by the Tories was 
to save some of his friends from the general ruin of the 
Whig party. He felt himself to be in a situation which 
made it his duty to take a decided part in politics. But 
the case of Steele and of Ambrose Phillipps was differ- 
ent. For Phillipps, Addison even condescended to solicit, 
with what success we have not ascertained, Steele held 
two places. He was Gazetteer, and he was also a Commis- 
sioner of Stamps.^ The Gazette was taken from him.^ 
But he was suffered to retain his place in the Stamp Office, 
on an implied understanding that he should not be active 
against the new government ; and he was, during more 
than two years, induced by Addison to observe this armis- 
tice with tolerable fidelity. 

' Not postage stamps, which of course were not yet invented, but 
government revenue stamps, a means of raising taxes very popular un- 
der William and Mary, and in use throughout the eighteenth century. 
Cf. the celebrated Stamp Act of 17G5, the first occasion of quarrel with 
the American colonies. The stamp, sometimes adhesive, sometimes 
embossed, was affixed by the officials to papers, parchments, legal docu- 
ments, and so forth. The fees charged were given to the government. 
The stamp office issued the stamps and received the taxes. 

* This place was then a government appointment under the immedi- 
ate control of the secretary of state, and changing as he was changed. 
6 



82 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

97. Isaac Bickerstaff accordingly became silent upon 
politics, and the article of news, which had once formed 
about one third of his paper, altogether disappeared. The 
Tatler had completely changed its character. It was now 
nothing but a series of essays on books, morals, and man- 
ners. Steele therefore resolved to bring it to a close, and 
to commence a new work on an improved plan. It was 
announced that this new work would be published daily. 
The undertaking was generally regarded as bold, or rather 
rash ; but the event amply justified the confidence with 
which Steele relied on the fertility of Addison's genius. 
On the second of January, 1711, appeared the last Tatler. 
At the beginning of March following appeared the first of 
an incomparable series of papers, containing observations 
on life and literature by an imaginary Spectator. 

98. The Spectator himself was conceived and drawn by 
Addison ; and it is not easy to doubt that the portrait was 
meant to be in some features a likeness of the painter. 
The Spectator is a gentleman who, after passing a studious 
youth at the university, has travelled on classic ground, and 
has bestowed much attention on curious points of antiquity. 
He has, on his return, fixed his residence in London, and 
has observed all the forms of life which are to be found in 
that great city, has daily listened to the wits of Will's, has 
smoked with the philosophers of the Grecian, and has min- 
gled with the parsons at Child's, and with the politicians 
at the St. James's. In the morning, he often listens to the 
hum of the Exchange ; in the evening, his face is con- 
stantly to be seen in the pit of Drury Lane theatre. 
But an insurmountable bashfulness prevents him from 
opening his mouth, except in a small circle of intimate 
friends. 

99. These friends were first sketched by Steele. Four of 
the club, the templar, the clergyman, the soldier, and 

§§ 97-105. The Spectator and the Guardian. a j 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 83 

the merchant, were uninteresting figures, fit only for a 
background. But the other two, an old country baronet 
and an old town rake, though not delineated with a very 
delicate pencil, had some good strokes. Addison took the 
rude outlines into his own hands, retouched them, coloured 
them, and is in truth the creator of the Sir Eoger de Cov- 
erley and the Will Honeycomb with whom we are all fa- 
miliar. 

100. The plan of the Spectator must be allowed to be 
both original and eminently happy. Every valuable essay 
in the series may be read with pleasure separately ; yet the 
five or six hundred essays form a whole, and a whole which 
has the interest of a novel. It must be remembered, too, 
that at that time no novel, giving a lively and powerful pict- 
ure of the common life and manners of England, had ap- 
peared. Eichardson ^ was working as a compositor. Field- 
ing ^ was robbing birds' nests. Smollett^ was not yet born. 
The narrative, therefore, which connects together the 
Spectator's Essays, gave to our ancestors their first taste of 
an exquisite and untried pleasure. That narrative was in- 
deed constructed with no art or labour. The events were 
such events as occur every day. Sir Eoger comes up to 
town to see Eugenic, as the worthy baronet always calls 
Prince Eugene, goes with the Spectator on the water to 
Spring Gardens,^ walks among the tombs in the Abbey, ^ and 
is frightened by the Mohawks,^ but conquers his apprehen- 

■ Samuel Richardson (1689-1781), bred a printer, became the author 
of one of the most popular novels in English, Pamela or Virtue Re- 
warded. 

''Henry Fielding (1707-1754), the author of Tom Jones, was born in 
Somersetshire, the son of a country gentleman. 

^Tobias Smollett (1721-1771), born in Scotland. These are the first 
of the great line of English novelists, extending through two centuries 
in a brilliant array such as no other country can show. 

* Spring Gardens, a place of refreshment in St. James's Park, much 



84 ESSAY OW ADDISON 

sion so far as to go to the theatre when the Distressed 
Mother is acted. The Spectator pays a visit in the summer 
to C©verley Hall, is charmed with the old house, the old 
butler, and the old chaplain, eats a jack^ caught by Will 
Wimble, rides to the assizes,^ and hears a point of law dis- 
cussed by Tom Touchy. At last a letter from the honest 
butler brings to the club the news that Sir Roger is dead. 
Will Honeycomb marries and reforms at sixty. The club 
breaks up ; and the Spectator resigns his functions. Such 
events can hardly be said to form a plot ; yet they are re- 
lated with such truth, such grace, such wit, such humour, 
such pathos, such knowledge of the human heart, such 
knowledge of the ways of the world, that they charm us on 
the hundredth perusal. We have not the least doubt that 
if Addison had written a novel, on an extensive plan, it 
would have been superior to any that we possess. As it is, 
he is entitled to be considered not only as the greatest of 
the English essayists, but as the forerunner of the great 
English novelists. 

101. We say this of Addison alone ; for Addison is the 
Spectator. About three sevenths of the work are his ; and 
it is no exaggeration to say, that his worst essay is as good 
as the best essay of any of his coadjutors. His best essays 
approach near to absolute perfection ; nor is their excel- 
lence more wonderful than their variety. His invention 
never seems to flag ; nor is he ever under the necessity of 
repeating himself, or of wearing out a subject. There are 

frequented by the aristocracy of the seventeenth century. The Abbey 
is of course Westminster. Mohawks was a slang term for the wild 
young gentlemen of that time, when they sallied out in bands at night, 
perpetrating ruffian jokes and outrages on peaceful citizens. See § 
148. 

* A pickerel. 

* The word means a " sitting" of legislative bodies at courts of jus- 
tice ; used commonly, as here, to indicate the sittings of the justices of 
the peace. 






ESSAY ON ADDISON 85 

no dregs in his wine. He regales ns after the fashion of 
that prodigal nabob ^ who held that there was only one 
good glass in a bottle. As soon as we have tasted the first 
sparkling foam of a jest, it is withdrawn, and a fresh 
draught of nectar is at our lips. On the Monday we have 
an allegory as lively and ingenious as Lucian's Auction of 
Lives ^ ; on the Tuesday an Eastern apologue, as richly col- 
oured as the Tales of Scherezade,^ on the Wednesday, a 
character described with the skill of La Bruyere^ ; on the 
Thursday, a scene from common life, equal to the best 
chapters in the Vicar of Wakefield ; on the Friday, some 
sly Horatian^ pleasantry on fashionable follies, on hoops, 
patches, or puppet shows ; and on the Saturday a religious 
meditation, which will bear a comparison with the finest 
passages in Massillon.^ 

102. It is dangerous to select where there is so much that 
deserves the highest praise. We will venture, however, to 
say, that any person who wishes to form a just notion of 
the extent and variety of Addison's powers, will do well to 
read at one sitting the following papers, the two Visits to 
the Abbey, the Visit to the Exchange, the Journal of the 
Retired Citizen, the Vision of Mirza, the Transmigrations of 
Pug the Monkey, and the Death of Sir Roger de Coverley.' 

' Nabob, from the Hindu word for viceroy. It was applied collo- 
quially to any Englishman who had made money in India. 

^Lucian (240-312 a.d.), a brilliant Greek writer of dialogues and 
stories. 

^ The story-teller in the Arabian Nights. 

* Jean de La Bruyere (1645-1696), a writer on morals. His greatest 
work is a series of sketches of the forms of human character, Les 
Caracteres. 

^ As in the satires of Horace. 

* A famous French preacher of the early eighteenth century. 
»Nos. 26, 329, 69, 317, 159, 343, 517. These papers are all in the 

first seven volumes. The eighth must be considered as a separate 
work. 



80 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

103. The least valuable of Addison's contributions to the 
Spectator are, in the judgment of our age, his critical 
papers. Yet his critical papers are always luminous, and 
often ingenious. The very worst of them must be regard- 
ed as creditable to him, when the character of the school 
in which he had been trained is fairly considered. The 
best of them were much too good for his readers. In truth, 
lie was not so far behind our generation as he was before his 
own. No essays in the Spectator were more censured and 
(Jerided than those in which he raised his voice against the 
contempt with which our fine old ballads were regarded, 
and showed the scoffers that the same gold which, bur- 
nished and polished, gives lustre to the /Eneid and the 
Odes of Horace, is mingled with the rude dross of Chevy 
Chace.^ 

104. It is not strange that the success of the Spectator 
should have been such as no similar work has ever obtained. 
The number of copies daily distributed was at first three 
thousand. It subsequently increased, and had risen to 
near four thousand when the stamp tax was imposed. 
That tax was fatal to a crowd of journals. The Spectator, 
however, stood its ground, doubled its price, and, though 
its circulation fell off, still yielded a large revenue both to 
the state and to the authors. For particular papers, the 
demand was immense ; of some, it is said, twenty thousand 
copies were required. But this was not all. To have the 
Spectator served up every morning with the bohea ^ and 
rolls, was a luxury for the few. The majority were con- 
tent to wait till essays enough had appeared to form a vol- 
ume. Ten thousand copies of each volume were imme- 

' The famous old English ballad, recounting the events of the battle 
of Otterburn. 

'Bohea, name of some hills in China from which tea was first im- 
ported to England in 1666. A general name in use for tea in Addi- 
son's time. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 87 

diately taken off, aud new editions were called for. It 
must be remembered, that the population of England was 
then hardly a third of what it now is. The number of 
Englishmen who were in the habit of reading, was proba- 
bly not a sixth of what it now is. A shop-keeper or a 
farmer who found any pleasure in literature, was a rarity. 
Nay, there was doubtless more than one knight of the 
shire whose country seat did not contain ten books, receipt 
books and books on farriery included. In these circum- 
stances, the sale of the Spectator must be considered as in- 
dicating a popularity quite as great as that of the most 
successful works of Sir Walter Scott and Mr. Dickens ^ in 
our own time. 

105. At the close of 1712 the Spectator ceased to appear. 
It was probably felt that the shortfaced gentleman and his 
club had been long enough before the town ; and that it 
was time to withdraw them, and to replace them by a new 
set of characters. In a few weeks the first number of the 
Guardian was published. But the Guardian was unfort- 
unate both in its birth and in its death. It began in 
dulness, and disappeared in a tempest of faction. The 
original plan was bad. Addison contributed nothing till 
sixty-six numbers had appeared ; and it was then impossi- 
ble to make the Guardian what the Spectator had been. 
Nestor Ironside and the Miss Lizards were people to whom 
even he could impart no interest. He could only furnish 
some excellent little essays, both serious and comic ; and 
this he did. 

106. Why Addison gave no assistance to the Guardian, 

§§ 106-113. Cato. 

' The Pickwick Papers, which gave Dickens his great fame, appeared 
in 1837. Nicholas Nicklehy, Oliver Twisty and American Notes had 
appeared before this essay was written. Scott died in 1832. Both 
these authors were at the height of their popularity when Macaulay 
wrote this. 



88 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

during the first two months of its existence, is a question 
which has puzzled the editors and biographers, but which 
seems to us to admit of a very easy sohition. He was then 
engaged in bringing his Cato on the stage. 

107. The first four acts of this drama had been lying in 
his desk since his return from Italy. His modest and sen- 
sitive nature shrank from the risk of a public and shameful 
failure ; and, though all who saw the manuscript were loud 
in praise, some thought it possible that au audience might 
become impatient even of very good rhetoric, and advised 
Addison to print the play without hazarding a representa- 
tion. At length, after many fits of apprehension, the poet 
yielded to the urgency of his political friends, who hoped 
that the public would discover some analogy between the 
followers of C^sar and the Tories, between Sempronius^ 
and the apostate A¥higs, between Cato, struggling to the 
last for the liberties of Eome, and the band of patriots who 
still stood firm round Halifax and Wharton. 

108. Addison gave the play to the managers of Drury 
Lane theatre, without stipulating for any advantage to 
himself. They, therefore, thought themselves bound to 
spare no cost in scenery and dresses. The decorations, it 
is true, would not have pleased the skilful eye of Mr. 
Macready.^ Juba's ^ waistcoat blazed with gold lace ; 
Marcia's "* hoop was worthy of a Duchess on the birthday ; 
and Cato wore a whig worth fifty guineas. The prologue 
was written by Pope, and is undoubtedly a dignified and 
spirited composition. The part of the hero was excellently 

' Not an historical character. 

= William Macready (1793-1873), a noted actor, manager of the 
Drury Lane Theatre, when this essay was written ; the Henry Irving of 
his day. 

^ King of Numidia in Africa, ally of Pompey ; defeated at Thapsus, 
46 B.C. by Caesar. Another character in the play. 

* Marcia, Cato's daughter. 



ESSAY 0:N' ADDISON 89 

played by Booth. Steele undertook to pack a hou>^e. The 
boxes were in a blaze with the stars ^ of the Peers in Op- 
position.2 The pit ^ was crowded with attentive and 
friendly listeners from the Inns of Court ^ and the liter- 
ary coffeehouses. Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Governor of the 
Bank of England/ was at the head of a powerful body of 
auxiliaries from the city, warm® men and true Whigs, but 
better known at Jonathan's and Garraway's '^ than in the 
haunts of wits and critics. 

109. These precautions were quite superfluous. The 
Tories, as a body, regarded Addison with no unkind feel- 
ings. Nor was it for their interest, professing, as they did, 
profound reverence for law and prescription,^ and abhor- 
rence both of popular insurrections and of standing armies, 
to appropriate to themselves reflections thrown on the 
great military chiefs and demagogue, who, with the sup- 
port of the legions and of the common people, subverted 
all the ancient institutions of his country. Accordingly, 
every shout that was raised by the members of the Kit 
Cat was echoed by the High Churchmen of the Octo- 

' The badges of many of the honorary orders which enroll the sov- 
ereigns and nobility of the old world are shaped like stars. 

* Nobles belonging to the party not in power. Here the phrase 
means the Whig Peers. A peer is one who holds one of the five de- 
grees of nobility, duke, marquis, earl, viscount, baron. 

3 That part of the theatre on the floor of the house ; in the United 
States, always called the parquet or orchestra. 

* An Inn is in this sense a college building where students are taught. 
The Inns of Court are old corporations which have the privilege of 
making lawyers. 

* See Introduction, 

'Warm, colloquially used in Addison's time for "pretty well off," 
moderately rich. 
' See Introduction, 

* Prescription, rights at law secured by long-continued possession. 

' Julius Caesar, who might be supposed to typify Marlborough. See 
Introduction, 



90 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

ber * ; and the curtain at length fell amidst thnnders of 
unanimous applause. 

110. The delight and admiration of the town were de- 
scribed by the Guardian in terms which we might attrib- 
ute to partiality, were it not that the Examiner, the or- 
gan of the Ministry, held similar language. The Tories, 
indeed, found much to sneer at in the conduct of their 
opponents. Steele had on this, as on other occasions, 
shown more zeal than taste or judgment. The honest citi- 
zens who marched under the orders of Sir Gibby,2as he was 
facetiously called, probably knew better when to buy and 
when to sell stock than when to clap and when to hiss at a 
play, and incurred some ridicule by making the hypocrit- 
ical Sempronius their favourite, and by giving to his in- 
sincere rants louder plaudits than they bestowed on the 
temperate eloquence of Cato. Wharton, too, who had the 
incredible effrontery to applaud the lines about flying from 
prosperous vice and from the power of impious men to a 
private station, did not escape the sarcasms of those who 
justly thought that he could fly from nothing more vicious 
or impious than himself. The epilogue,^ which was writ- 
ten by Garth,^ a zealous Whig, was severely and not unrea- 
sonably censured as ignoble and out of place. But Addi- 
son was described, even by the bitterest Tory writers, as a 
gentleman of wit and virtue, in whose friendship many 
persons of both parties were happy, and whose name 
ought not to be mixed up with factious squabbles. 

111. Of the jests by which the triumph of the Whig 

' A club of extreme Tories, founded 1690, influential in the reign 
of Anne. See page 115, note 2, and Introduction 

" Sir Gilbert Heathcote, mentioned in § 108. 

' It used to be the fashion to have ev^ry new play introduced by a 
little poem or prologue, spoken by one of the characters, and ended by 
an epilogue, similarly given after the curtain. 

* Sir Samuel Garth (1661-1719), an English physician and poet. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 91 

party was disturbed, the most severe and happy was Bol- 
ingbroke's. Between two acts, he sent for Booth to his 
box, and presented him, before the whole theatre, with a 
purse of fifty guineas for defending the cause of liberty so 
well against a perpetual Dictator. This was a pungent 
allusion to the attempt which Marlborough had made, not 
long before his fall, to obtain a patent ^ creating him Cap- 
tain General for life. 

112. It was April ; and in April, a hundred and thirty 
years ago, the London season was thought to be far ad- 
vanced. During a whole month, however, Cato was per- 
formed to overflowing houses, and brought into the treas- 
ury of the theatre twice the gains of an ordinary spring. 
In the summer the Drury Lane company went down to 
the Act ^ at Oxford, and there, before an audience which 
retained an affectionate remembrance of Addison's accom- 
plishments and virtues, his tragedy was acted during sev- 
eral days. The gownsmen ^ began to besiege the theatre in 
the forenoon, and by one in the afternoon all the seats 
were filled. 

113. About the merits of the piece which had so extra- 
ordinary an effect, the public, we suppose, has made up its 
mind. To compare it with the masterpieces of the Attic * 
stage, with the great English dramas of the time of Eliza- 
beth, or even with the productions of Schiller's ^ manhood, 
would be absurd indeed. Yet it contains excellent dia- 
logue and declamation, and, among jjlays fashioned on the 
French model, must be allowed to rank high ; not indeed 

' Patent, an official document conferring a privilege. 

^ Act, the old word for the public disputations required of candidates 
for degrees at the universities. 

2 Gownsmen, students at the university. 

* Athenian. 

'Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805), the German poet, historian, and 
dramatist. Perhaps Macaulay refers to Wallenstein, Mary Stuart, and 
William Tell. 



92 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

with Atlialie, or Sanl, but, we think, not below Cinna,^ 
and certainly above any other English tragedy of the same 
school, above many of the plays of Corneille,^ above many 
of the plays of Voltaire and Alfieri,^ and above some plays 
of Eacine. Be this as it may, we have little doubt that Cato 
did as much as the Tatlers, Spectators, and Freeholders 
united, to raise Addison's fame among his contemporaries. 

114. The modesty and good nature of the successful 
dramatist had tamed even the malignity of faction. But 
literary envy, it should seem, is a fiercer passion than 
party spirit. It was by a zealous Whig that the fiercest 
attack on the Whig tragedy was made. John Dennis^ 
published Remarks on Cato, which were written with some 
acuteness and with much coarseness and asperity. Addi- 
son neither defended himself nor retaliated. On many 
points he had an excellent defence ; and nothing would 
have been easier than to retaliate ; for Dennis had written 
bad odes, bad tragedies, bad comedies : he had, moreover, 
a larger share than most men of those infirmities and ec- 
centricities which excite laughter ; and Addison's power of 
turning either an absurd book or an absurd man into ridi- 
cule was unrivalled. Addison, however, serenely conscious 
of his superiority, looked with pity on his assailant, whose 
temper, naturally irritable and gloomy, had been soured by 
want, by controversy, and by literary failures. 

115. But among the young candidates for Addison's 
favour there was one distinguished by talents from the 

§§ 114-116. The affair of John Dennis. 

■ ^<7(a^ie is by Racine ; Saul by Alfieri; Cinna by Corneille. This 
odd pleasure in " ranking" and valuing authors is very characteristic 
of Macaulay. See above, § 101. 

Pierre Corneille (1600-1084), one of the classic French dramatists. 
His best known work is Le Cid. 

^Alfieri (1749-1803), the most famous Italian tragedian. He wrote 
also five odes on American Independence. 

* John Dennis (1637-1734), ridiculed by Pope as a critic. 



ESS AT ON ADDISON 93 

rest, and distinguished, we fear, not less by malignity and 
insincerity. Pope was only twenty-five.^ But his powers 
had expanded to their full maturity ; and his best poem, 
the Rape of the Lock, had recently been published. Of 
his genius, Addison had always expressed high admiration. 
But Addison had early discerned, what might indeed have 
been discerned by an eye less penetrating than his, that 
the diminutive, crooked, sickly boy was eager to revenge 
himself on society for the unkindness of nature. In the 
Spectator, the Essay on Criticism had been praised with 
cordial warmth ; but a gentle hint had been added, that 
the writer of so excellent a poem would have done well 
to avoid ill-natured personalities. Pope, though evidently 
more galled by the censure than gratified by the praise, 
returned thanks for the admonition, and promised to profit 
by it. The two writers continued to exchange civilities, 
counsel, and small good offices. Addison publicly extolled 
Pope's miscellaneous pieces ; and Pope furnished Addison 
with a prologue. This did not last long. Pope hated 
Dennis, whom he had injured without provocation. The 
appearance of the Remarks on Cato gave the irritable poet 
an opportunity of venting his malice under the show of 
friendship ; and such an opportunity could not but be wel- 
come to a nature which was implacable in enmity, and 
which always preferred the tortuous to the straight path. 
He published, accordingly, the Narrative of the Frenzy of 
John Dennis. But Pope had mistaken his powers. He 
was a great master of invective and sarcasm : he could dis- 
sect a character in terse and sonorous couplets, brilliant 
with antithesis : but of dramatic talent he was altogether 
destitute. If he had written a lampoon on Dennis, such 
as that on Atticus, or that on Sporus,^ the old grumbler 

' See Introduction, § 36. 

" A name given by Pope to Lord Hervey. Atticus is Pope's name 
for Addison. See Introduction, § 34. 



94 ESS AT OK ADDISON 

would have been crushed. But Pope writing dialogue re- 
sembled — to borrow Horace's imagery and his own — a wolf, 
which, instead of biting, should take to kicking, or a monk- 
ey which should try to sting. The Narrative is utterly 
contemptible. Of argument there is not even the show ; 
and the jests are such as, if they were introduced into a 
farce, would call forth the hisses of the shilling gallery. 
Dennis raves about the drama ; and the nurse thinks that 
he is calling for a dram. " There is," he cries, " no peri- 
petia^ in the tragedy, no change of fortune, no change at 
all." " Pray, good Sir, be not angry," says the old wom- 
an ; " I'll fetch change." This is not exactly the pleas- 
antry of Addison. 

116. There can be no doubt that Addison saw through 
this officious zeal, and felt himself deeply aggrieved by it. 
So foolish and spiteful a pamphlet could do him no good, 
and, if he were thought to have any hand in it, must do 
him harm. Gifted with incomparable powers of ridicule, 
he had never, even in self defence, used those powers in- 
humanly or uncourteously ; and he was not disposed to let 
others make his fame and his interests a pretext under 
which they might commit outrages from which he had 
himself constantly abstained. He accordingly declared 
that he had no concern in the narrative, that he dis- 
approved of it, and that if he answered the remarks, he 
would answer them like a gentleman ; and he took care to 
communicate this to Dennis. Pope was bitterly mortified ; 
and to this transaction we are inclined to ascribe the hatred 
with which he ever after regarded Addison. 

117. In September, 1713, the Guardian ceased to appear. 
Steele had gone mad about politics. A general election 

§§ 117-119. The separation of Steele and Addison. The eighth vol- 
ume of the Spectator. 

' Peripetia, a Greek word for that part of a drama where the plot ia 
unravelled; the modern word is denouement 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 95 

had just taken place : he had been chosen member for 
Stockbridge ; and he fully expected to play a first part in 
Parliament. The immense success of the Tatler and Sjiec- 
tator had tnrned liis head. He had been the editor of both 
those papers, and was not aware how entirely they owed 
their influence and popularity to the genius of his friend. 
His spirits, always violent, were now excited by vanity, 
ambition, and faction, to such a pitch that he every day 
committed some offence against good sense and good taste. 
All the discreet and moderate members of his own party 
regretted and condemned his folly. " I am in a thousand 
troubles,^' Addison wrote, " about poor Dick, and wish 
that his zeal for the public may not be ruinous to himself. 
But he has sent me word that he is determined to go on, 
and that any advice I may give him in this particular will 
have no weight with him." 

118. Steele set up a political paper called the English- 
man, which, as it was not supported by contributions from 
Addison, completely failed. By this work, by some other 
writings of the same kind, and by the airs which he gave 
himself at the first meeting of the new Parliament, he made 
the Tories so angry that they determined to expel him. 
The Whigs stood by him gallantly, but were unable to save 
him. The vote of expulsion was regarded by all dispas- 
sionate men as a tyrannical exercise of the power of the 
majority. But Steele's violence and folly, though they by 
no means justified the steps which his enemies took, had 
completely disgusted his friends ; nor did he ever regain 
the place which he had held in the public estimation. 

119. Addison about this time conceived the design of 
adding an eighth volume to the Spectator. In June, 1714, 
the first number of the new series appeared, and during 
about six months three papers were published weekly. 
Nothing can be more striking than the contrast between 
the Englishman and the eighth volume of the Spectator, 



96 ESS AT ON ADDISON 

between Steele without Addison and Addison without 
Steele. The Englishman is forgotten ; the eighth volume 
of the Spectator contains, perhaps, the finest essays, both 
serious and playful, in the English language. 

120. Before this volume was completed, the death of 
Anne produced an entire change in the administration of 
public affairs. The blow fell suddenly. It found the 
Tory party distracted by internal feuds, and unprepared 
for any great effort. Harley had just been disgraced. 
Bolingbroke, it was sujDposed, would be the chief minister. 
But the Queen was on her deathbed before the white staff 
had been given, and her last j)ublic act was to deliver it 
with a feeble hand to the Duke of Shrewsbury.^ The 
emergency produced a coalition between all sections of 
public men who were attached to the Protestant succession. 
George the First was proclaimed without opposition. A 
Council, in which the leading Whigs had seats, took the 
direction of affairs till the new King should arrive. The 
first act of the Lords Justices ^ was to appoint Addison 
their secretary. 

121. There is an idle tradition that he was directed to 
prepare a letter to the King, that he could not satisfy him- 
self as to the style of this composition, and that the Lords 
Justices called in a clerk who at once did what was wanted. 
It is not strange that a story so flattering to mediocrity 
should be popular ; and we are sorry to deprive dunces of 
their consolation. But the truth must be told. It was well 
observed by Sir James Mackintosh,^ whose knowledge of 

§§120-128. Death of Anne. Return of the Whigs to power. Addi- 
son goes into office. Conduct toivards Swift and other friends. 

' See Introil action. 

2 Lords Justices, lords appointed to act for a time as substitutes for 
the sovereign in the supreme government in the whole kingdom or any 
part of it. 

= Sir James Mackintosh (17G5-1832) wrote a famous historj of the 
English revolution of 1688. It was reviewed by Macaulay. 



II 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 97 

these times was unequalled, that Addison never, in any 
official document, affected wit or eloquence, and that his 
despatches are, without exce2)tion, remarkable for unj)re- 
tending simplicity. Every body who knows with what ease 
Addison's finest essays were produced must be convinced 
that, if well turned phrases had been wanted, he would 
have had no difficulty in finding them. We are, however, 
inclined to believe, that the story is not absolutely without 
a foundation. It may well be that Addison did not know, 
till he had consulted experienced clerks who remembered 
the times when William the Third was absent on the conti- 
nent, in what form a letter from the Council of Regency 
to the King ought to be drawn. AVe think it very likely 
that the ablest statesmen of our time. Lord John Russell, 
Sir Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston,^ for example, would, in 
similar circumstances, be found quite as ignorant. Every 
office has some little mysteries which the dullest man may 
learn with a little attention, and which the greatest man 
cannot possibly know by intuition. One paper must be 
signed by the chief of the department ; another by his 
deputy : to a third the royal sign manual ^ is necessary. 
One communication is to be registered, and another is not. 
One sentence must be in black ink, and another in red ink. 

' Statesmen contemporary with the author and famous in the history of 
our century. Earl Russell (1792-1878), known as Lord John Russell 
till 1861, was the head of Macaulay's own party, the " Whigs of 1832," 
and lived to be Prime Minister twice, in 1846 and in 1866. His life 
greatly influenced the history of England of his time, especially in con- 
nection with parliamentary reform. Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), the 
founder of the modern "Conservative" party, though a Tory prime 
minister, favored a liberal policy in regard to Catholic emancipation 
(1829) and free trade (1846), and carried his party with him. Lord 
Palmerston (1784-1865) made himself famous by supporting the rev- 
olutionary movements in Europe in 1848, bringing England out on 
the side of popular freedom. He also supported Napoleon III. 

^ Sign manualj autograph signature executed by a sovereign. 



98 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

If the ablest Secretary for Ireland were moved to the I'lidia 
Board,^ if the ablest President of the India Board were 
moved to the War OiRce, he would require instructions on 
points like these ; and we do not doubt that Addison re- 
quired such instruction when he became, for the first time. 
Secretary to the Lords Justices. 

122. George the First took possession of his kingdom 
without opposition. A new ministry was formed, and a 
new Parliament favourable to the Whigs chosen. Sunder- 
land ^ was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland ; and 
Addison again went to Dublin as Chief Secretary. 

123. At Dublin Swift resided ; and there was much 
speculation about the way in which the Dean and the Sec- 
retary would behave towards each other. The relations 
which existed between these remarkable men form an in- 
teresting and pleasing portion of literary history. They 
had early attached themselves to the same political party 
and to the same patrons. While Anne^s Whig ministry 
was in power, the visits of Swift to London and the official 
residence of Addison in Ireland had given them opportu- 
nities of knowing each other. They were the two shrewd- 
est observers of their age. But their observations on each 
other had led them to favourable conclusions. Swift did 
full justice to the rare powers of conversation which were 
latent under the bashful deportment of Addison. Addi- 
son, on the other hand, discerned much good nature under 
the severe look and manner of Swift ; and, indeed, the 
Swift of 1708 and the Swift of 1738 were two very different 
men. 

124. But the paths of the two friends diverged widely. 
The Whig statesmen loaded Addison with solid benefits. 
They praised Swift, asked him to dinner, and did no- 

' The India Board was a board of control established by the crown 
over the government of the East India Company. 
* See Introduction, 



ESSAY ON ADDISON ■ 99 

thing more for him. His profession laid them under a 
difficulty. In the state they could not promote him ; and 
they had reason to fear that, by bestowing preferment in 
the church on the author of the Tale of a Tub, they might 
give scandal to the public, which had no high opinion of 
their orthodoxy. He did not make fair allowance for the 
difficulties which prevented Halifax and Somei's from serv- 
ing him, thought himself an ill used man, sacrificed hon- 
our and consistency to revenge, joined the Tories, and be- 
came their most formidable champion. He soon found, 
however, that his old friends were less to blame than he 
had supposed. The dislike with which the Queen and the 
heads of the Church regarded him was insurmountable ; 
and it was with the greatest difficulty that he obtained an 
ecclesiastical dignity of no great value, on condition of 
fixing his residence in a country which he detested. 

125. Difference of political opinion had produced, not 
indeed a quarrel, but a coolness between Swift and Addi- 
son. They at length ceased altogether to see each other. 
Yet there was between them a tacit compact like that be- 
tween the hereditary guests in the Iliad. 

"Eyx** 5' aW'fiXuy a.\ein(6a Kal 5j' 6fj,i\ov 
TloKKol fJLev yhp i/j-ol TpwfS /cAetroi t' iir'iKOvpoi, 
Krelvfij/, '6v Ke ^€6s ye irdpt) Koi iroixcr) Kixeiw, 
UoWol 5' o5 <Tol 'Axaiot iuaipefiey, '6v Ke Svvrjai.^ 

126. It is not strange that Addison, who calumniated 
and insulted nobody, should not have calumniated or in- 
sulted Swift. But it is remarkable that Swjft, to whom 

^ The agreement of Glaucus the ally of Troy, and Diomed, the Greek, 
■when they discovered that their fathers had been friends: "Let us 
avoid each other's spears hereafter in the battle ; for there are many 
other Trojans and famous allies of theirs for me to slay, whomsoever 
of them God shall send, and I shall find ; and on our side again there 
are many Greeks for you to destroy, whomsoever of them you can." — 
Iliad, VI., 226. 

L.cfC. 



100 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

neither genius nor virtue was sacred, and who generally 
seemed to find, like most other renegades, a peculiar pleas- 
ure in attacking old friends, should have shown so much 
respect and tenderness to Addison. 

127. Fortune had now changed. The accession of the 
House of Hanover had secured in England the liberties of 
the people, and in Ireland the dominion of the Protestant 
caste. To that caste Swift was more odious than any other 
man. He was hooted and even pelted in the streets of 
Dublin ; and could not venture to ride along the strand 
for his health without the attendance of armed servants. 
Many whom he had formerly served now libelled and in- 
sulted him. At this time Addison arrived. He had been 
advised not to show the smallest civility to the Dean of St. 
Patrick's. He had answered, with admirable spirit, that 
it might be necessary for men whose fidelity to their party 
was suspected, to hold no intercourse with political oppo- 
nents ; but that one who had been a steady Whig in the 
worst times might venture, when the good cause was tri- 
umphant, to shake hands with an old friend who was one 
of the vanquished Tories. His kindness was soothing to the 
proud and cruelly wounded spirit of Swift ; and the two 
great satirists resumed their habits of friendly intercourse. 

128. Those associates of Addison whose political opin- 
ions agreed with his shared his good fortune. He took 
Tickell with him to Ireland. He procured for Budgell a 
lucrative place in the same kingdom. Ambrose Phillipps 
was provided for in England. Steele had injured himself 
so much by his eccentricity and perverseness that he ob- 
tained but a very small part of what he thought his due. 
He was, however, knighted ; he had a place in the house- 
hold ; and he subsequently received other marks of favour 
from the court. 

129. Addison did not remain long in Ireland. In 1715 

§§ 129-130. Return to England. The Freeholder. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 101 

he quitted his secretaryship for a seat at the Board of 
Trade. 1 In the same year his comedy of the Drummer 
was brought on the stage. The name of the author was not 
announced ; the piece was coldly received ; and some critics 
have expressed a doubt whether it were really Addison's. 
To us the evidence, both external and internal, seems de- 
cisive. It is not in Addison's best manner ; but it contains 
numerous passages which no other writer known to us could 
have produced. It was again performed after Addison's 
death, and, being known to be his, was loudly applauded. 
130. Towards the close of the year 1715, while the Re- 
bellion 2 was still raging in Scotland, Addison published the 
first number of a paper called the Freeholder. Among his 
political works the Freeholder is entitled to the first place. 
Even in the Spectator there are few serious papers nobler 
than the character of his friend Lord Somers, and certainly 
no satirical papers superior to those in which the Tory fox- 
hunter is introduced.^ This character is the original of 
Squire Western,'* and is drawn with all Fielding's force, 
and with a delicacy of which Fielding was altogether desti- 
tute. As none of Addison's works exhibit stronger marks 
of liis genius than the Freeholder, so none does more hon- 
our to his moral character. It is^ difficult to extol too high- 
ly the candour and humanity of a political writer whom 
even the excitement of civil war cannot hurry into un- 
seemly violence. Oxford, it is well known, was then the 
stronghold of, Toryism. The High Street had been re- 
peatedly lined with bayonets in order to keej) down the dis- 
affected gownsmen ; and traitors pursued by the rnessen- 

> The English department of government controlling commerce. 
The head is called tlie president of the Board of Trade, and usually 
has a seat in the Cahinet. 

' The uprising in the interest of the House of Stuart, under the 
Earl of Mar. 

= See Nos. 22, 44 and 47. 

* A character in Fielding's Tom Jones. See above, page 172, note 2 



102 ESSAT ON ADDISON 

gers of the Government had been concealed in the garrets 
of several colleges. Yet the admonition which, even under 
such circumstances, Addison addressed to the University, 
is singularly gentle, respectful, and even affectionate. In- 
deed, he could not find it in his heart to deal harshly even 
with imaginary persons. His foxhunter, though ignorant, 
stupid, and violent, is at heart a good fellow, and is at last 
reclaimed by the clemency of the King. Steele was dis- 
satisfied with his friend's moderation, and, though he ac- 
knowledged that the Freeholder was excellently written, 
complained that the ministry played on a lute when it was 
necessary to blow the trumpet. He accordingly determined 
to execute a flourish after his own fashion, and tried to 
rouse the public spirit of the nation by means of a paper 
called the Town Talk, which is now as utterly forgotten 
as his Englishman, as his Crisis, as his Letter to the Bailiff 
of Stockbridge, as his Eeader, in short, as everything that 
he wrote without the hel]) of Addison, 

131. In the same year in which the Drummer was acted, 
and in which the first numbers of the Freeholder appeared, 
the estrangement of Pope and Addison became complete. 
Addison had from the first seen that Pojie was false and 
malevolent. Pope had discovered that Addison was jealous. 
The discovery was made in a strange manner. Poj^e had 
written the Rape of the Lock, in two cantos, without suj)er- 
natural machinery. These two cantos had been loudly ap- 
plauded, and by none more loudly than by Addison. Then 
Pope thought of the Sylphs and Gnomes, Ariel, Momentilla, 
Crispissa, and Umbriel, and resolved to interweave the 
Eosicrucian ^ mythology with the original fabric. He asked 

§§ 131-147. The quarrel between Addison and Pope. 

' A secret society, called the " Brotherhood of the Rosy Cress," is 
said to have existed in the seventeenth century, possessing occult wis- 
dom derived from the Orient, and using strange words and symbols to 
express it. The current accounts of tlie brotherhood originated per- 
naps in attempts at mystification, but the word Eosicrucian was used to 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 103 

Addison's advice. Addison said tliat the poem as it stood 
was a delicious little tiling, and entreated Pope not to run 
the risk of marring what was so excellent in trying to 
mend it. Pope afterwards declared that this insidious 
counsel first opened his eyes to the baseness of him who 
gave it. 

132. Now there can be no doubt that Pope's plan was 
most ingenious, and that he afterwards executed it with 
great skill and success. But does it necessarily follow that 
Addison's advice was bad ? And if Addison's advice was 
bad, does it necessarily follow that it was given from bad 
motives ? If a friend were to ask us whether we would 
advise him to risk his all in a lottery of which the chances 
were ten to one against him, we should do our best to dis- 
suade him from running such a risk. Even if he were so 
lucky as to get the thirty thousand pound prize, we should 
not admit that we had counselled him ill ; and we should 
certainly think it the height of injustice in him to accuse 
us of having been actuated by malice. We think Addison's 
advice good advice. It rested on a sound principle, the 
result of long and wide experience.- The general rule un- 
doubtedly is that, when a successful work of imagination 
has been produced, it should not be recast. We cannot at 
this moment call to mind a single instance in which this 
rule has been transgressed with happy effect, except the in- 
stance of the Eape of the Lock. Tasso recast his Jerusa- 
lem.^ Akenside^ recast his Pleasures of the Imagination, 

glorify mystical acts and theories of many societies, claiming the au- 
thority of this secret order. The " mythology" here referred to is an 
elaborate hierarchy of elemental spirits, which were said to be the 
forces, physical and spiritual, at work in the world. See Goethe's 
Faust for some dreams of this sort. 

' Tasso (1544-1595) wrote a great poem on the crusades, called Jr 
rusalem Delivered. It was published at first as a poem called Godfrey, 
and he was always revising it, in a moi'bid fear lest it was heretical. 

* Mark Akenside (1721-1770), physician and poet. 



104 ESS AT ON ADDISON 

and his Ejiistle to Curio. Pope himself, emboldened no 
doubt by the success with which he had expanded and re- 
modelled the Rape of the Lock, made the same experiment 
on the Dunciad.^ All these attempts failed. Who was to 
foresee that Pope would, once in his life, be able to do 
what he could not himself do twice, and what nobody else 
has ever done ? 

133. Addison's advice was good. But had it been bad, 
why should we pronounce it dishonest ? Scott tells us 
that one of his best friends predicted the failure of Waver- 
ley. Herder 2 adjured Goethe not to take so unpromising 
a subject as Faust. Hume ^ tried to dissuade Robertson ^ 
from writing the History of Charles the Fifth. Nay, Pope 
himself was one of those who prophesied that Cato would 
never succeed on the stage, and advised Addison to print 
it without risking a representation. But Scott, Goethe, 
Robertson, Addison, had the good sense and generosity to 
give their advisers credit for the best intentions. Pope's 
heart was not of the same kind with theirs. 

134. In 1715, while he was engaged in translating the 
Iliad, he met Addison at a coffeehouse. Phillipps and 
Budgell were there ; but their sovereign got rid of them, 
and asked Pope to dine with him alone. After dinner, Ad- 
dison said that he lay under a difficulty which he wished 
to explain. " Tickell," he said, " translated some time 
ago the first book of the Iliad. I have promised to look it 
over and correct it. I cannot therefore ask to see yours ; 
for that would be double dealing." Pope made a civil re- 

' A poem of Pope's, in imitation of the jEneid, about the kingdom 
of dulness, which he represented as peopled by many of his contem- 
poraries. 

2 Herder (1744-1803), a German critic and poet of the classical 
period. His best known works are historical. 

= Hume (1711-1776), the leader of eighteenth century philosophy in 
England, himself a great historian. 

* See above, page 120, note 3. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 105 

ply, and begged that his second book might have the ad 
vantage of Addison's revision. Addison readily agreed, 
looked over the second book, and sent it back with warm 
commendations. 

135. Tickell's version of the first book appeared soon 
after this conversation. In the preface, all rivalry was ear- 
nestly disclaimed. Tickell declared that he should not go 
on with the Iliad. That enterprise he should leave to 
powers which he admitted to be superior to his own. His 
only view, he said, in publishing this specimen was to be- 
speak the favour of the public to a translation of the 
Odyssey, in which he had made some progress. 

136. Addison, and Addison's devoted followers, pro- 
nounced both the versions good, but maintained that Tick- 
ell's had more of the original. The town gave a decided 
preference to Pope's. We do not think it worth while to 
settle such a question of precedence. Neither of the rivals 
can be said to have translated the Iliad, unless, indeed, the 
word translation be used in the sense which it bears in the 
Midsummer Night's Dream. When Bottom makes his 
appearance with an ass's head instead of his own, Peter 
Quince exclaims, " Bless thee ! Bottom, bless thee ! thou 
art translated." In this sense, undoubtedly, the readers 
of either Pope or Tickell may very properly exclaim, 
" Bless thee ! Homer ; thou art translated indeed." 

137. Our readers will, we hope, agree with us in think- 
ing that no man in Addison's situation could have acted 
more fairly and kindly, both towards Pope, and towards 
Tickell, than he appears to have done. But an odious 
suspicion had sprung up in the mind of Pope. He fan- 
cied, and he soon firmly believed, that there was a deep 
conspiracy against his fame and his fortunes. The work 
on which he had staked his reputation was to be depre- 
ciated. The subscription, on which rested his hopes of a 
competence, was to be defeated. With this view Addison 



106 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

iiad made a rival translation : Tickell had consented to 
father it ; and the wits of Button's had united to puff it. 

138. Is there any external evidence to support this 
grave accusation ? The answer is short. There is abso- 
lutely none. 

139. Was there any internal evidence which proved Ad- 
dison to be the author of this version ? Was it a work 
which Tickell was incapable of j^roducing? Surely not. 
Tickell was a Fellow of a College at Oxford, and must be 
supposed to have been able to construe the Iliad ; and he 
was a better versifier than his friend. We are not aware 
that Pope pretended to have discovered any turns of ex- 
pression peculiar to Addison. Had such turns of expres- 
sion been discovered, they would be sufficiently accounted 
for by supposing Addison to have corrected his friend's 
lines, as he owned that he had done. 

140. Is there any thing in the character of the accused 
persons which makes the accusation probable ? We answer 
confidently — nothing. Tickell was long after this time de- 
scribed by Pope himself as a very fair and worthy man. 
Addison had been, during many years, before the public. 
Literary rivals, political opponents, had kept their eyes on 
him. But neither envy nor faction, in their utmost rage, 
had ever imputed to him a single deviation from the laws 
of honour and of social morality. Had he been indeed a 
man meanly jealous of fame, and capable of stooping to 
base and wicked arts for the purpose of injuring his com- 
petitors, would his vices have remained latent so long? He 
was a writer of tragedy: had he ever injured Eowe ? He 
was a writer of comedy : has he not done ample justice to 
Congreve, and given valuable help to Steele ? He was a 
pamphleteer: have not his good nature and generosity been 
acknowledged by Swift, his rival in fame and his adversary 
in politics ? 

141. That Tickell should have been guilty of a villany 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 107 

seems to ns highly improbable. That Addison should have 
been guilty of a villany seems to us highly improbable. 
But that these two men should have conspired together to 
commit a villany seems to us improbable in a tenfold de- 
gree. All that is known to us of their intercourse tends 
to prove, that it was not the intercourse of two accomplices 
in crime. These are some of the lines in which Tickell 
poured forth his sorrow over the coffin of Addison : 

" Or dost thou warn poor mortals left behind, 
A task well suited to thy gentle mind ? 
Oh, if sometimes thy spotless form descend, 
To me thine aid, thou guardian genius, lend. 
When rage misguides me, or when fear alarms, 
When pain distresses, or when pleasure charms, 
In silent whisperings purer thoughts impart, 
And turn from ill a frail and feeble heart ; 
Lead through the paths thy A'irtue trod before. 
Till bliss shall join, nor death can part us more." 

142. In what words, we should like to know, did this 
guardian genius invite his pupil to join in a plan such as 
the Editor of the Satirist would hardly dare to propose to 
the Editor of the Age ? ^ 

143. We do not accuse Pope of bringing an accusation 
which he knew to be false. We have not the smallest 
doubt that he believed it to be true ; and the evidence on 
which he believed it he found in his own bad heart. His 
own life was one long series of tricks, as mean and as ma- 
licious as that of which he suspected Addison and Tickell. 
He was all stiletto and mask. To injure, to insult, and to 
save himself from the consequences of injury and insult 
by lying and equivocating, was the habit of his life. He 
published a lampoon on the Duke of Chandos ; he was 
taxed with it ; and he lied and equivocated. He published 
a lampoon on Aaron Hill ^ ; he was taxed with it ; and he 

* Contemporary journals. ' An obscure poet. 



108 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

lied and equivocated. He published a still fouler lampoon 
on Lady Mary Wortley Montague ; he was taxed with it ; 
and he lied with more than usual effrontery and vehe- 
mence. He puifed himself and abused his enemies under 
feigned names. He robbed himself of his own letters, and 
then raised the hue and cry after them. Besides his frauds 
of malignity, of fear, of interest, and of vanity, there were 
frauds which he seems to have committed from love of 
fraud alone. He had a habit of stratagem, a pleasure in 
outwitting all who came near him. Whatever his object 
might be, the indirect road to it was that which he j)re- 
ferred. For Bolingbroke, Pope undoubtedly felt as much 
love and veneration as it was in his nature to feel for any 
human being. Yet Pope was scarcely dead when it was 
discovered that, from no motive except the mere love of 
artifice, he had been guilty of an act of gross perfidy to 
Bolingbroke. 

144. Nothing was more natural than that such a man 
as this should attribute to others that which he felt with- 
in himself. A plain, probable, coherent exiDlanation is 
frankly given to him. He is certain that it is all a romance. 
A line of conduct scrupulously fair, and even friendly, is 
pursued towards him. He is convinced that it is merely a 
cover for a vile intrigue by which he is to be disgraced and 
ruined. It is vain to ask him for proofs. He has none, 
and wants none, except those which he carries in his own 
bosom. 

145. Whether Pope's malignity at length provoked Ad- 
dison to retaliate for the first and last time, cannot now be 
known with certainty. We have only Pope's story, which 
runs thus. A pamphlet appeared containing some reflec- 
tions which stung Pope to the quick. What those reflec- 
tions were, and whether they were reflections of which he 
had a right to complain, we have now no means of decid- 
ing. The Earl of Warwick, a foolish and vicious lad, who 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 109 

regarded Addison with the feelings with which snch lads 
generally regard their best friends, told Pope, truly or 
falsely, that this pamphlet had been written by Addison's 
direction. When we consider what a tendency stories 
have to grow, in passing even from one honest man to an- 
other honest man, and when we consider that to the name 
of honest man neither Pope nor the Earl of Warwick had 
a claim, we are not disposed to attach much importance to 
this anecdote. 

146. It is certain, however, that Pope was furious. He 
had already sketched the character of Atticus in prose. 
In his anger he turned this prose into the brilliant and 
energetic lines which every body knows by heart, or ought 
to know by heart, and sent them to Addison. One charge 
which Pope had enforced with great skill is probably not 
without foundation. Addison was, we are inclined to be- 
lieve, too fond of presiding over a circle of humble friends. 
Of the other imputations which these famous lines are in- 
tended to convey, scarcely one has ever been proved to be 
just, and some are certainly false. That Addison was not 
in the habit of " damning with faint praise " appears from 
innumerable passages in his writings, and from none more 
than from those in which he mentions Pope. And it is 
not merely unjust, but ridiculous, to describe a man who 
made the fortune of almost every one of his intimate 
friends, as "so obliging that he ne'er obliged." 

147. That Addison felt the sting of Pope's satire keenly, 
we cannot doubt. That he was conscious of one of the 
weaknesses with which he was reproached, is highly prob- 
able. But his heart, we firmly believe, acquitted him of 
the gravest part of the accusation. He acted like himself. 
As a satirist he was, at his own weapons, more than Pope's 
match ; and he would have been at no loss for topics. A 
distorted and diseased body, tenanted by a yet more dis- 
torted and diseased mind ; spite and envy thinly disguised 



110 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

by sentiments as benevolent and noble as those which Sir 
Peter Teazle admired in Mr. Joseph Surface * ; a feeble 
sickly licentiousness ; an odious love of filthy and noisome 
images ; these were things which a genius less powerful 
than that to which we owe the Spectator could easily have 
held up to the mirth and hatred of mankind. Addison 
had, moreover, at his command other means of vengeance 
which a bad man would not have scrupled to use. He was 
powerful in the state. Pope was a Catholic ; and, in those 
times, a minister would have found it easy to harass the 
most innocent Catholic by innumerable petty vexatious. 
Pope, near twenty years later, said that "through the 
lenity of the government alone he could live with com- 
fort.^' " Consider/^ he exclaimed, " the injury that a man 
of high rank and credit may do to a private person, under 
penal laws and many other disadvantages." It is pleasing 
to reflect that the only revenge which Addison took was 
to insert in the Freeholder a warm encomium on the trans- 
lation of the Iliad, and to exhort all lovers of learning to 
put down their names as subscribers. There could be 
no doubt, he said, from the specimens already published, 
that the masterly hand of Pope would do as much for 
Homer as Dryden had done for Virgil. From that time 
to the end of his life, he always treated Pope, by Pope's 
own acknowledgment, with justice. Friendship was, of 
course, at an end. 

148. One reason which induced the Earl of "Warwick to 
play the ignominious part of talebearer on this occasion, 
may have been his dislike of the marriage which was about 
to take place between his mother and Addison. The 
Countess Dowager, a daughter of the old and honourable 
family of the Middletons of Chirk, a family which, in any 
country but ours, would be called noble, resided at Hol- 

§§ 148-150. Addison's marriage. 

' Characters in Sheridan's School for Scandal, 



ESSAY OK ADDISON m 

land House. ^ Addison had, during some years, occupied 
at Chelsea a small dwelling, once the abode of Nell Gwynn.^ 
Chelsea ^ is now a district of London, and Holland House 
may be called a town residence. But, in the days of Anne 
and George the First, milkmaids and sportsmen wandered 
between green hedges and over fields bright with daisies, 
from Kensington almost to the shore of the Thames. Ad- 
dison and Lady Warwick were country neighbours, and be- 
came intimate friends. The great wit and scholar tried to 
allure the young Lord from the fashionable amusements of 
beating watchmen, breaking windows, and rolling women 
in hogsheads down Holborn Hill to the study of letters and 
the practice of virtue. These well meant exertions did lit- 
tle good, however, either to the disciple or to the master. 
Lord Warwick grew up a rake ; and Addison fell in love. 
The mature beauty of the Countess has been celebrated by 
poets in language which, after a very large allowance has 
been made for flattery, would lead us to believe that she 
was a fine woman ; and her rank doubtless heightened her 
attractions. The courtship was long. The hopes of the 
lover appear to have risen and fallen with the fortunes of 
his party. His attachment was at length matter of such 
notoriety that, when he visited Ireland for the last time, 
Rowe addressed some consolatory verses to the Chloe * of 
Holland House. It strikes us as a little strange that, in 
these verses, Addison should be called Lycidas,^ a name of 

' A mansion in Kensington, afterwards very famous as the residence 
of Lord Holland. See Macaulay's Life, Chapter IV., and his Letter to 
his sister of May 30, 1831. 

* Mistress of Charles II. 

* Chelsea, a suburb of London on the banks of the Thames. It has 
been the residence of many great people, including Steele, Swift, Ad- 
dison, Walpole, and in our time Rossetti, George Eliot, and Carlyle. 

"• A shepherdess in a Greek pastoral. This name was in fashion in 
eighteenth century poetry. 
' See Introduction. 



112 ESSAF ON ADDISON 

singularly evil omen for a swain just about to cross St. 
George's Channel. 

149. At length Chloe capitulated. Addison was in- 
deed able to treat with her on equal terms. He had rea- 
son to expect preferment even higher than that which he 
had attained. He had inherited the fortune of a brother 
who died Governor of Madras. He had purchased an es- 
tate in AVarwickshire, and had been welcomed to his 
domain in very tolerable verse by one of the neighbouring 
squires, the poetical foxhunter, William Somervile. In Au- 
gust, 1716, the newspapers announced that Joseph Addison, 
Esquire, famous for many excellent works both in verse and 
prose, had espoused the Countess Dowager of Warwick. 

150. He now fixed his abode at Holland House, a house 
which can boast of a greater number of inmates distinguished 
in political and literary history than any other private 
dwelling in England. His portrait still hangs there. The 
features are pleasing ; the comjilexion is remarkably fair ; 
but, in the expression, we trace rather the gentleness of his 
disposition than the force and keenness of his intellect. 

151. Not long after his marriage he reached the height 
of civil greatness. The Whig Government had, during 
some time, been torn by internal dissensions. Lord 
Townshend ^ led one section of the Cabinet, Lord Sunder- 
land the other. At length, in the sjoringof 1717, Sunder- 
land triumphed. Townshend retired from office, and was 
accompanied by Walpole and Cowper. Sunderland pro- 
ceeded to reconstruct the Ministry ; and Addison was 
appointed Secretary of State. It is certain that the Seals ^ 

§151-159. He enters the Cabinet as Secretary of State. Failing 
health. Unhappy relations with Steele. 

"Charles Townshend (1674-1738), a member of a family of emi- 
nence in English politics. He began as a Tory, but became a Whig. 

" State seals, used to give official authority to documents, are usually 
in charge of state secretaries. Hence they are used as a symbol of 
official authority. 



ESS AT ON ADDISON 113 

were pressed upon him, and were at first declined by him. 
Men equally versed in official business might easily have 
been found ; and his colleagues knew that they could not 
expect assistance from him in debate. He owed his eleva- 
tion to his popularity, to his stainless probity, and to his 
literary fame. 

152. But scarcely had Addison entered the Cabinet when 
his health began to fail. From one serious attack he re- 
covered in the autumn ; and his recovery was celebrated 
in Latin verses, worthy of his own pen, by Vincent Bourne, 
who was then at Trinity College, Cambridge. A relapse 
soon took place ; and, in the following spring, Addison 
was prevented by a severe asthma from discharging the 
duties of his post. He resigned it, and was succeeded by his 
friend Craggs, a young man whose natural parts, though 
little improved by cultivation, were quick and showy, 
whose graceful person and winning manners had made him 
generally acceptable in society, and who, if he had lived, 
would probably have been the most formidable of all the 
rivals of Walpole. 

153. As yet there was no Joseph Hume.^ The Minis- 
ters, therefore, were able to bestow on Addison a retiring 
pension of fifteen hundred pounds a-year. In what form 
this pension was given we are not told by the biographers, 
and have not time to inquire. But it is certain that 
Addison did not vacate his seat in the House of Com- 
mons. 

154. Rest of mind and body seemed to have re-established 
his health ; and he thanked God, with cheerful piety, for 
having set him free both from his office and from his 
asthma. Many years seemed to be before him, and he 
meditated many works, a tragedy on the death of Socrates, 
a translation of the Psalms, a treatise on the evidences of 

' A member of Parliament in Macaulay's time, who distinguished 
himself by objecting to unnecessary expenditures. 
8 



114 E88AT ON ADDISON 

Christianity. Of this last performance, a part, which we 
could well spare, has come down to us. 

155. But the fatal complaint soon returned, and gradu- 
ally prevailed against all the resources of medicine. It is 
melancholy to think that the last months of such a life 
should have been overclouded both by domestic and by 
political vexations. A tradition which began early, which 
has been generally received, and to which we have nothing 
to oppose, has represented his wife as an arrogant and im- 
perious woman. It is said that, till his health failed him, 
he was glad to escape from the Countess Dowager and her 
magnificent diningroom, blazing with the gilded devices of 
the House of Rich,^ to some tavern where he could enjoy 
a laugh, a talk about Virgil and Boileau, and a bottle of 
claret, with the friends of his happier days. All those 
friends, however, were not left to him. Sir Eichard Steele 
had been gradually estranged by various causes. He con- 
sidered himself as one who, in evil times, had braved 
martyrdom for his political principles, and demanded, 
when the Whig party was triumphant, a large compensa- 
tion for what he had suffered when it was militant. The 
Whig leaders took a very different view of his claims. They 
thought that he had, by his own petulance and folly, 
brought them as well as himself into trouble, and though 
they did not absolutely neglect him, doled out favours to 
him with a sparing hand. It was natural that he should 
be angry with them, and especially angry with Addison. 
But what above all seems to have disturbed Sir Richard, 
was the elevation of Tickell, who, at thirty, was made by 
Addison Undersecretary of State ; while the Editor of the 
Tatler and Spectator, the author of the Crisis, the member 
for Stockbridge who had been persecuted for firm adhe- 
rence to the House of Hanover, was, at near fiLfty, forced, 
after many solicitations and complaints, to content himself 
* Rich, the family name of her first husband, the Earl of Holland. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 115 

with a share in the patent ^ of Drury Lane theatre. Steele 
himself says, in his celebrated letter to Congreve, that 
Addison, by his preference of Tickell, " incurred the 
warmest resentment of other gentlemen ; " and every thing 
seems to indicate that, of those resentful gentlemen, Steele 
was himself one. 

156. While poor Sir Richard was brooding over what he 
considered as Addison's unkindness, a new cause of quar- 
rel arose. The Whig party, already divided against itself, 
was rent by a new schism. The celebrated Bill for limit- 
ing the number of Peers had been brought in. The 
proud Duke of Somerset, first in rank of all the nobles 
whose religion permitted them to sit in Parliament, was 
the ostensible author of the measure. But it was sup- 
ported, and, in truth, devised by the Prime Minister. 

157. We are satisfied that the Bill was most pernicious ; 
and we fear that the motives which induced Sunderland to 
frame it were not honourable to him. But we cannot deny 
that it was supported by many of the best and wisest men 
of that age. Nor was this strange. The royal preroga- 
tive had, within the memory of the generation then in 
the vigour of life, been so grossly abused,^ that it was still 
regarded with a jealousy which, when the peculiar situa- 
tion of the House of Brunswick is considered, may perhaps 
be called immoderate. The particular prerogative of cre- 
ating peers had, in the opinion of the Whigs, been grossly 
abused by Queen Anne's last ministry ^ ; and even the 
Tories admitted that her Majesty, in swamping, as it has 

' Giving him a share in the profits, as the theatre was a monopoly, 
licensed by the government. 

° By James II., who tried to " dispense " his officers from their obli- 
gations to the law of the land by appealing to the " royal prerogative " 
as above the law. 

' In 1711 Queen Anne created twelve new peers to obtain a Tory 
majority in the House of Lords. 



116 ESSAY ON ADDISON 



I 



since been called, the Upper House, had done what only •. 
an extreme case could justify. The theory of the English ^ 
constitution, according to many high authorities, was that 
three independent powers, the sovereign, the nobility, and 
the commons, ought constantly to act as checks on each 
other. If this theory were sound, it seemed to follow that 
to put one of these powers under the absolute control of 
the other two, was absurd. But if the number of peerg 
were unlimited, it could not well be denied that the Upper 
House was under the absolute control of the Crown and 
the Commons, and was indebted only to their moderation 
for any power which it might be suffered to retain. 

158. Steele took part with the Opposition, Addison with 
the Ministers. Steele, in a paper called the Plebeian, ve- 
hemently attacked the bill. Sunderland called for help on 
Addison, and Addison obeyed the call. In a paper called the 
Old Whig, he answered, and indeed refuted, Steele's argu- 
ments. It seems to us that the premises of both the con- 
troversialists were unsound, that, on those premises, Ad- 
dison reasoned well and Steele ill, and that consequently 
Addison brought out a false conclusion while Steele blun- 
dered upon the truth. In style, in wit, and in politeness, 
Addison maintained his superiority, though the Old Whig 
is by no means one of his happiest performances. 

159. At first, both the anonymous opponents observed 
the laws of propriety. But at length Steele so far forgot 
himself as to throw an odious imputation on the morals 
of the chiefs of the administration. Addison replied with 
severity, but, in our opinion, with less severity than was 
due to so grave an offence against morality and decorum ; 
nor did he, in his just anger, forget for a moment the laws 
of good taste and good breeding. One calumny which has 
been often repeated, and never yet contradicted, it is our 
duty to expose. It is asserted in the Biographia Britan- 
nica, that Addison designated Steele as " little Dicky/' 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 117 

This assertion was repeated by Johnson, who had never 
seen the Old Whig, and was therefore excusable. It has 
also been repeated by Miss Aikin, who has seen the Old 
Whig, and for whom therefore there is less excuse. Now, 
it is true that the words "little Dicky" occur in the Old 
Whig, and that Steele's name was Richard. It is equally 
true that the words " little Isaac " occur in the Duenna,^ 
and that Newton's name was Isaac. But we confidently 
affirm that Addison's little Dicky had no more to do with 
Steele, than Sheridan's little Isaac with Newton. If we i 
apply the words " little Dicky " to Steele, we deprive a very 
lively and ingenious passage, not only of all its wit, but of 
all its meaning.^ Little Dicky was the nickname of Henry 
Norris, an actor of remarkably small stature, but of great 
humour, who played the usurer Gomez, then a most popu- 
lar part, in Dryden's Spanish Friar. 

160. The merited reproof which Steele had received, 
though softened by some kind and courteous expressions, 
galled him bitterly. He replied with little force and great 
acrimony ; but no rejoinder appeared. Addison was fast 

§§ 160-167. Addison's death and burial. 

• A play of Sheridan's (1775). 

" "We will transcribe the whole paragraph. How it can ever have 
been misunderstood is unintelligible to us. " But our author's chief 
concern is for the poor House of Commons, whom he represents as 
naked and defenceless, when the Crown, by losing this prerogative, 
would be less able to protect them against the power of a House of 
Lords. Who forbears laughing when the Spanish Friar represents lit- 
tle Dicky, under the person of Gomez, insulting the Colonel that was 
able to fright him out of his wits with a single frown? This Gomez, 
says he, flew upon him like a dragon, got him down, the Devil being 
strong in him, and gave him bastinado on bastinado, and buffet on buf- 
fet, which the poor Colonel, being prostrate, suffered with a most Chris- 
tian patience. The improbability of the fact never fails to raise mirth 
in the audience ; and one may venture to answer for a British House of 
Commons, if we may guess, from its conduct hitherto, that it will scarce 
be either so tame or so weak as our author supposes." \_Macaulay's note.'} 



118 ESSAY OJSr ADDISON 

hastening to his grave ; and had, we may well suppose, lit- 
tle disposition to prosecute a quarrel with an old friend. 
His complaint had terminated in dropsy. He bore up 
long and manfully. But at length he abandoned all hope, 
dismissed his physicians, and calmly prepared himself to die. 

161. His works he intrusted to the care of Tickell, and 
dedicated them a very few days before his death to Craggs, 
in a letter written with the sweet and graceful eloquence 
of a Saturday's Spectator. In this, his last composition, 
he alluded to his approaching end in words so manly, so 
cheerful, and so tender, that it is difficult to read them 
without tears. At the same time he earnestly recom- 
mended the interests of Tickell to the care of Craggs. 

163. AVithin a few hours of the time at which this dedi- 
cation was written, Addison sent to beg Gay,^ who was then 
living by his wits about town, to come to Holland House. 
Gay went, and was received with great kindness. To his 
amazement his forgiveness was implored by the dying man. 
Poor Gay, the most goodnatured and simple of mankind, 
could not imagine what he had to forgive. There was, 
however, some wrong, the remembrance of which weighed 
on Addison's mind, and which he declared himself anxious 
to repair. He was in a state of extreme exhaustion ; and 
the parting was doubtless a friendly one on both sides. 
Gay supposed that some plan to serve him had been in agi- 
tation at Court, and had been frustrated by Addison's in- 
fluence. Nor is this improbable. Gay had paid assiduous 
court to the royal family. But in the Queen's days he had 
been the eulogist of Bolingbroke, and was still connected 
with many Tories. It is not strange that Addison, while 
heated by conflict, should have thought himself Justified in 
obstructing the preferment of one whom he might regard 

'John Gay (1685-1732), the English poet. The Beggar's Opera, 
his most famous work, is hardly known now ; but his pastorals and 
fables are pleasing still. 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 119 

as a political enemy. Neither is it strange that, when re- 
viewing his whole life, and earnestly scrutinising all his 
motives, he should think that he had acted an unkind and 
ungenerous part, in usiiig his power against a distressed 
man of letters, who was as harmless and as helpless as a 
child. 

163. One inference may be drawn from this anecdote. 
It appears that Addison, on his deathbed, called himself to 
a strict account, and was not at ease till he had asked par- 
don for an injury which it was not even suspected that he 
had committed, for an injury which would have caused 
disquiet only to a very tender conscience. Is it not then 
reasonable to infer that, if he had really been guilty of 
forming a base conspiracy against the fame and fortunes of 
a rival, he would have expressed some remorse for so se- 
rious a crime ? But it is unnecessary to mnltiialy arguments 
and evidence for the defence, when there is neither argu- 
ment nor evidence for the accusation. 

164. The last moments of Addison were perfectly 
serene. His interview with his son-in-law is universally 
known. "See," he said, "how a Christian can die." 
The piety of Addison was, in truth, of a singularly cheer- 
ful character. The feeling which predominates in all his 
devotional WTitings is gratitude. God was to him the all- 
wise and allpowerful friend who had watched over his 
cradle with more than maternal tenderness ; who had lis- 
tened to his cries before they could form themselves in 
prayer ; who had preserved his youth from the snares of 
vice ; who had made his cup run over with worldly bless- 
ings ; who had doubled the value of those blessings, by be- 
stowing a thankful heart to enjoy them, and dear friends 
to partake them ; who had rebuked the wave of the Ligu- 
rian gulf, had purified the autumnal air of the Campagna, 
and had restrained the avalanches of Mont Cenis.^ Of the 

* Referring to his escape from the dangers of foreign travel. 



120 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

Psalms, his favourite was that which represents the Eiiler 
of all things under the endearing image of a shepherd, 
whose crook guides the flock safe, through gloomy and 
desolate glens, to meadows well watered and rich with herb- 
age. On that goodness to which he ascribed all the hap- 
piness of his life, he relied in the hour of death with the 
love which casteth out fear. He died on the seventeenth of 
June, 1719. He had just entered on his forty-eighth year. 

165. His body lay in state in the Jerusalem Chamber,^ 
and was borne thence to the Abbey at dead of night. The 
choir sang a funeral hymn. Bishop Atterbury,^ one of 
those Tories who had loved and honoured the most accom- 
plished of the Whigs, met the corpse, and led the pro- 
cession by torchlight, round the shrine of Saint Edward 
and the graves of the Plantagenets, to the Chapel of Henry 
the Seventh.^ On the north side of that Chapel, in the 
vault of the House of Albemarle, the coflfin of Addison 
lies next to the coffin of Montague. Yet a few months ; 
and the same mourners passed again along the same aisle. 
The same sad anthem was again chanted. The same vault 
was again opened ; and the coffin of Craggs * was placed 
close to the coffin of Addison. 

166. Many tributes were paid to the memory of Addi- 
son ; but one alone is now remembered. Tickell bewailed 
his friend in an elegy which would do honour to the great- 
est name in our literature, and which unites the energy 
and magnificence of Dryden to the tenderness and purity 
of Cowper.^ This fine poem was prefixed to a superb edi- 

' Jerusalem Chamber, a room on the southwest side of Westminster 
Abbey, dating from 1376. It is hung with tapestry representing Jeru- 
salem. 

* Francis Atterbury (1662-1732), Dean of Westminster at this time. 
5 The eastern chapel of the Abbey. 

♦ See § 152. 

" William Cowper (1731-1800), the gentle poet whose verse still 



ESSAY ON ADDISON 121 

tion of Addison's works, which was published, in 1721, by 
subscription. The names of the subscribers proved how 
widely his fame had been spread. That his countrymen 
should be eager to possess his writings, even in a costly 
form, is not wonderful. But it is wonderful that, though 
English literature was then little studied on the continent, 
Spanish Grandees,^ Italian Prelates, Marshals of France, 
should be found in the list. Among the most remarkable 
names are those of the Queen of Sweden,^ of Prince Eugene, 
of the Grand Duke of Tuscany,'^ of the Dukes of Parma, 
Modena, and Guastalla,'' of the Doge of Genoa, of the 
Kegent Orleans,^ and of Cardinal Dubois. We ought to 
add that this edition, though eminently beautiful, is in 
some important points defective ; nor, indeed, do we yet 
possess a complete collection of Addison's writings.^ 

167. It is strange that neither his opulent and noble 
widow, nor any of his powerful and attached friends, should 
have thought of placing even a simple tablet, inscribed 
with his name, on the walls of the Abbey. It was not till 

charms, even in comparison witli the more magnificent poetry immedi- 
ately following his death, at the end of the last century and begin- 
ning of this. 

' The class of Spanish noblemen of the higher rank. 

^ Ulrica, sister and successor of Charles XII. 

^ The Medici family were still reigning as Grand Dukes. In 1737 the 
Duchy passed to the Austrian House of Hapsburg. 

•* States of Northern Italy. All these rulers, being on the English 
side in the War of Succession, were admirers of the English Whigs. 

" During the minority of Louis XV. (1715-1723), Pliilip, Duke of Or- 
leans, was Regent of France. He was nephew of Louis XIV., and a 
man of some ability, but most unscrupulous, an avowed infidel, and of 
dissolute life. He reversed the policy of France under Louis XIV., 
making a close alliance with England under George I., and cultivat- 
ing the friendship of the Whigs. His favorite minister was Cardinal 
Dubois. 

" The most accessible edition at present is the collection edited by 
Bishop Hurd, published in Bohn's Standard Library (Macmillan). 



132 ESSAY ON ADDISON 

three generations had langhed and wept over his pages that 
the omission was supplied by the public veneration. At 
length, in our own time, his image, skilfully graven, ap- 
peared in Poet's Corner.^ It rej)resents him, as we can 
conceive him, clad in his dressing gown, and freed from 
his wig, stepping from his parlour at Chelsea into his trim 
little garden, with the account of the Everlasting Club, or 
the Loves of Hilpa and Slialum, just finished for the next 
day's Spectator, in his hand. Such a mark of national re- 
spect was due to the unsullied statesman, to the accom- 
plished scholar, to the master of pure English eloquence, 
to the consummate painter of life and manners. It was 
due, above all, to the great satirist, who alone knew how to 
use ridicule without abusing it, who, without inflicting a 
wound, effected a great social reform, and who reconciled 
wit and virtue, after a long and disastrous separation, dur- 
ing which wit had been led astray by profligacy, and virtue 
by fanaticism. 

* A space on the east side of the south transept of Westminster Ab- 
bey, containing busts, statues, or tablets to the memory of many British 
poets and other great men. A memorial to Longfellow, the American 
poet, also appears here. 



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